Dishes from snails

Preparation of snails

      Put the gathered snails into a wooden or plastic well ventilated box (the quantity of snails cannot exceed the third of box’s size) and leave them 3-5 days in a dry and cool place to fast. Salt the cleaned snails (so that they get into the shells) and place them into boiling water (there should be at least 2 times more water that snails). After 5 minutes take the snails out with a strainer and shell them with a special fork. Cut away and discard the black innermost part of the bodies, which contain the intestines, with sharp scissors, wash the flesh and boil it after spiced and salted about 3-4 hours.

Snail and mushroom soup

Ingredients (serves 4):
      200g raw snail meat, ½ glass of dry white table wine, 1 cup of brandy, 1 carrot, 1 celery stem, 1 onion, 300g fresh mushrooms, 1-2 cloves of garlic, wad of parsley, some meat bouillon, 1 egg yolk, olive oil, some salt.
      To the soup also are served: fried bread crusts, butter.

      1. Boil the snails in water for 15-20 min skimming off foam. Take out the snails and cut them into pieces.
      2. Fry them in 2-3 tbsp oil; add the cut carrot, celery and onion. Pour white wine and brandy, add some scoops of bouillon, fine-cut garlic and parsley and cook gently for 3 hours stirring from time to time (soup should be thick enough).
      3. Clean the mushrooms and cut them to the pieces. Fry the mushrooms in olive oil and let them reduce. Take them carefully out of the pan.
      4. Add the mushrooms to the boiling snails, mix everything and cook for a further hour, adding bouillon. Taste the salt.
      5. Take the pot off the stove and let simmer down. Stir in the whisked egg yolk and reheat the soup over a low flame. Serve in small earthenware ramekins with fried bread crusts and butter.

Snails in Mantovian Sauce

Ingredients (serves 4):
      80 pieces of purged snail meat, 2 carrots, 2 celery stems, 4 onions, 4 cloves of garlic, 2 l dry white table wine, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 100g butter, some grated Parmesan cheese, salt and peppers.
      Garnished with: boiled or in a pan reheated corn porridge.

      1. Place the shelled, washed and purged snails in a pot, add mashed vegetables, white wine and butter. Cook for about 4 hours.
      2. Stir from time to time adding some water if need be. Finally season with salt and pepper.
      3. Sprinkle the cooked snails with Parmesan cheese and serve with boiled or fried corn porridge.

Omelette with snails and onions

Ingredients (serves 4):
      500g snail meat cooked in white wine for 3 hours, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 6 eggs, 1 tsp sour cream, some spring onions, 1 tsp sugar, some olive oil, some grated Parmesan cheese, some flavoured vinegar (aceto balsamico di Modena), some salt and pepper to taste.

      1. Beat the eggs into a capacious earthenware bowl, add crushed snails. Fry separately julienne cut onions and garlic, add them then to eggs and snails and mix well (it should be soft).
      2. Pour the content into a baking tray covered with foil, watch the mass does not stick or is under the height of the baking tray, otherwise it will not bake properly.
      3. Place into the pre-heated oven and bake for a quarter of an hour. Serve either immediately or cooled but always sprinkled with aceto balsamico di Modena.

Snail bread

Ingredients (serves 4):
      1kg flour, 50g beer yeast, 30g salt, about 500g cooked snail meat, 50g butter, some fine crushed garlic and basil, 350ml water, 100ml olive oil.

      1. Mix in basil and garlic into soft butter; let the snails take up the flavoured butter heating them over a low flame (the butter mustn’t boil).
      2. Dissolve yeast in not too cold water. Add flour, salt, oil, water and cut snails. Knead dough until it is soft and solid. Leave the dough for half an hour to rise.
      3. Form small pieces, place them on a baking tray and leave for an hour in a warm room. Bake then for a quarter of an hour in a pre-heated to 1900C oven. Let the baked bread cool on the grate to evaporate.