Name: Escargots Sur un Champ Vert (Snails on a Green Field of Parsley)
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: salt and pepper; one 14-ounce/390-g can medium or large snails; 4 tablespoons/60 g butter; 2 small shallots, finely chopped; 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped; ¼ cup/60 ml. crème fraîche or heavy cream; 2 large bunches parsley (about 6 ounces/170 g total); 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preparation info

Serves
4 to 6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Country Cooking of France

By Anne Willan

Published 2007

About

The delectable snails from my local snail producer are fattened on a diet of cabbage leaves and peppery greens, so to serve them on a field of puréed parsley seems a natural progression. A large can of snails holds 36 to 48 snails, an ideal number for serving 4 to 6. Be sure to serve them with plenty of country bread.

Ingredients

Parsley Purée

2 large bunches parsley (about 6 ounces/170 g total)

Method

For the parsley purée, bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil. Discard the parsley stems, add the leafy sprigs to the boiling water, and simmer until quite tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the parsley, reserving ¼ cup (60 ml) of the liquid. Rinse with cold water and drain again thoroughly; the parsley will be bright green. Chop it coarsely and put it in a blender with the oil and reserved cook