Escargots de Bourgogne — Print Recipe

Classic French snails baked in their shells with a fragrant compound butter of garlic, parsley, and shallots. This iconic Burgundian appetizer has been a staple of French gastronomy since the 19th century.

Ingredients

24 canned escargots, drained and rinsed
24 escargot shells
150g unsalted butter, softened
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely minced
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Crusty French bread for serving

Instructions

1 Prepare the compound butter by mixing the softened butter with the minced garlic, chopped parsley, minced shallot, white wine, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined.
2 Place a small amount of the garlic-parsley butter into the bottom of each escargot shell, then tuck one snail into each shell and seal it with more compound butter.
3 Arrange the stuffed shells butter-side up on a special escargot plate or a baking dish lined with coarse salt to keep them stable and upright.
4 Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for ten to twelve minutes until the butter is bubbling vigorously and just beginning to turn golden brown.
5 Serve immediately on the hot plate with plenty of crusty French bread to soak up the delicious garlic butter from the shells.

Did You Know?

Napoleon allegedly served escargots to the visiting Russian Tsar Alexander, and the dish became so fashionable that by 1850, Parisians were consuming over one billion snails per year.