Escargot, a hallmark of French bistro cuisine, has always been one of those dishes that seems too exotic or fussy to make at home. After all, it’s not like your local supermarket is going to be selling bags of snails for holiday pre-order… right?
As it turns out, escargots are neither difficult to procure, nor difficult to make. It is shockingly easy to buy canned Burgundy snails, or escargots de Bourgogne—you can even get them on Amazon. From there, all you need is some butter, white wine, garlic, shallot, and parsley, along with some delicious crusty bread to soak up all those juices. While a classic escargot plate will bring these mollusks to their full visual potential, you don’t need one to pull off this recipe. Instead, bake your snails on slices of baguette on a sheet pan, or in the dugouts of a mini muffin tray. You can also cook escargots in their own shells, if you are able to purchase them with the shells included.
Because escargots are typically harvested in Burgundy at the start of winter, they are traditionally served at Christmastime in France. If you’re looking for easy hors d’oeuvres to serve at a holiday party that will make your guests think you’re the fanciest host on the block, consider following in this French tradition. Make sure to have a bottle of Burgundy Chardonnay like Chablis on hand to serve with it.
This recipe for escargot comes to us courtesy of Chef Laurent Tourondel. The man behind New York’s L’Amico and the viral steak-frites spot, Skirt Steak, Tourondel has a special connection to Christmas, his birthday as well as the origin behind his middle name, Noel. So you can be well-assured that he knows his way around this beloved holiday delicacy.
Chef Tourondel’s Escargot Recipe
Serves 4 people (12 escargots per person)
Ingredients
48 canned Burgundy Escargots, drained and rinsed
4 large escargot plates (with 12 holes each)
Loaf of baguette or country bread
Garlic-Parsley Butter
2 cups (4 sticks) European butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons dry white wine (preferably from Burgundy)
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pinches of ground nutmeg
24 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1½ cups finely chopped parsley
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Cut your bread into 48 small disks, approximately the size of the holes in the escargot tray. Pressing a Collins glass (or similar) into the soft part of the bread can help achieve a uniform cut.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add butter and beat with whisk until smooth. Turn the mixer off and add the wine, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Resume beating on medium speed until well incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the shallots and parsley with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined. Using the same spatula, transfer the butter to a pastry bag (snip off the end) or a Ziploc bag (snip off the corner).
Place a little butter into each hole of the escargot tray and top with one snail, then pipe about 2 teaspoons over the snails, and place the disk of bread on top. Bake until snails are sizzling—about 10 to 15 minutes.
Serve immediately with a fresh baked baguette to eat with your escargot. If serving the escargots in their shells, be sure to have toothpicks with which to extract them—or a set of vintage escargot tongs and forks, if you’re really feeling fancy.
Note: If you have some vegetarians coming to dinner, consider subbing out one tray of escargots for mushroom caps, cooked using the same preparation.
Catherine Rickman is a writer, professional Francophile, and host of the Expat Horror Stories podcast. She is currently somewhere in Brooklyn with a fork in one hand and a pen in the other, and you can follow her adventures on Instagram @catrickman.
