I first learned to make these during my university years and I won’t say exactly how long ago that was! Sharon Giardetti, my room mate and dear friend, used to receive shipments of food from her Italian Grandmother in Thunder Bay. The box always had tins of escargot included. This is her Nona’s recipe. We liked to make it as it was easy and popular and made us feel like we were eating something extravagant when we were actually quite poor. It became a tradition in my family to serve these Christmas eve with some crusty baguette and a crisp white wine. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!

  • Yield: enough for 8 as an appetizer
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 1 1/4 hours
  • Active: 1/2 hour or less

Ingredients (9)

  • 2 pkg x 228 g each brown cremini mushrooms
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil, XV
  • 6+ cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tins x 115 g each escargot/snails (e.g. Club Royale)
  • 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese or good quality Italian cheese
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup parsley

Instructions

  1. The method is more important than the exact measurements. Preheat oven to 350’F.
  2. Wash mushrooms and remove stems. Chop stems and set aside. Place caps in baking pans. You don’t need to grease them. I use 2 deep-dish pie plates.
  3. Melt butter in skillet and add olive oil and minced garlic. Sautee a few minutes. Add snails with their liquid and the white wine. Heat through. Don’t boil or over-heat as the snails can get tough.
  4. Use a teaspoon to place 2-3 snails in each of mushroom caps. The extra snails can go around caps if they don’t all fit. Top with chopped mushroom stems, grated cheese and the parmesan. Sprinkle minced parsley over.
  5. Bake at 350’F for 45 minutes or until mushrooms release their liquid and the top of the cheese starts to brown. Serve in baking pans with crusty baguette to mop up the garlicy juices.