Escargot and Chanterelle Pizza

Title:
Escargot and Chanterelle Pizza

Yield:
1 Pizza

Categories:
Entrees




Ingredients:





          French bread dough


          -(Craig Claiborne's


          -French bread recipe


          -works well)


    10 oz French snails


          -(the smaller the better;


          -burgundy snails taste


          -best to me)


     2 oz Chanterelle mushrooms,


          -dried


 1 1/2 lb Raclette cheese,


          -shredded


     8 oz Tomato sauce


     2    Garlic cloves


     2 tb Parsley, fresh


   1/2 lb Butter






 Make the French Bread dough recipe at least 1 day beforehand if you can.


 Roll the dough out into the shape of a pizza, put it on a pizza pan,and set


 it aside. It will keep in the refrigerator overnight.


 


 Prepare the dried mushrooms according to published recipes (soak, wash,


 cut, resoak, wash, drain).


 


 If the snails are too large (larger than a garlic clove), then cut them in


 pieces.  Drain the snails well. Melt the butter in a baking dish, add the


 snails, crushed garlic, about 1/2 salt and ground black pepper to taste.


 


 Put the bread-dough pan on the top rack of the oven and the snails on the


 bottom rack of the oven, and cook them both for 10 minutes. Take them out.


 


 Spread the tomato sauce in an even layer on the bread, then sprinkle the


 Raclette cheese over it.  Add the snails, and then the mushrooms. Sprinkle


 with fresh parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Bake at 425 degrees F. in the


 top rack for 12 minutes (bottom rack will burn the crust).


 


 NOTES:


 


 *  A pizza-like dish smothered in escargot and mushrooms -- I was recently


 at a potluck party where everyone was asked to bring an interpretation of


 "French pizza," what pizza would have tasted like if it had been invented


 in Rennes instead of in Naples. I concocted this dish for the occasion, and


 it was a success. If you aren't sure you like escargot, this is not the


 dish to experiment with! Yield: 1 large pizza.


 


 *  The first time I made this recipe I made it with morel mushrooms. Their


 flavor overwhelmed even the garlic snails. It was good, but it didn't have


 the balance I was looking for. Chanterelles seem to fit better. If you're


 unable to find or afford chanterelles, you can substitute Chinese straw


 mushrooms, which are available in cans wherever Chinese groceries are sold.


 European dried mushrooms seem always to have rocks and dirt in them; Asian


 dried mushrooms never do.  I guess the Asians wash them better before they


 dry them. It's impossible to get all of the rocks out.


 


 *  Raclette cheese is so much better than any other kind of cheese in this


 recipe that it is worth looking for. If you absolutely cannot get it, use


 fondue cheese or a Gruyere.


 


 *  Raw butter also tastes more "authentic" in this recipe. What you really


 want to use is Normandy butter, but it's hard to get in North America. Alta


 Dena raw butter is available in California; it makes a noticeable


 difference in the flavor of the escargot. I don't know of any other states


 in which it is legal to buy raw butter.


 


 : Difficulty:  easy to moderate.


 : Time:  30 minutes.


 : Precision:  approximate measurement OK.


 


 : Brian Reid


 : DEC Western Research Laboratory, Palo Alto CA


 : reid@decwrl.DEC.COM    -or- {ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax,sun,pyramid}!decwrl!reid


 


 : Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust


 


 From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini