Italian Snails Bobbio Style Recipe

Serves/Makes: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds large snails
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 onion
• 5 tablespoons tomato paste
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large carrots
• 1 pound celery
• 1 pound leeks

How to cook Italian Snails Bobbio Style:

• Sweat the finely chopped onion in the butter and oil in a flameproof casserole until almost translucent (do not allow to color).
• Add the snails and the tomato paste mixed with 1 cup hot water. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat; season lightly with salt and pepper; cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring frequently and adding more hot water if necessary.
• Turn off the heat and leave it to stand until the following day.
• Trim, slice and wash the carrots, celery and leeks. Turn up the heat again, add 1 cup water and the vegetables. Cover and cook slowly for another 2 hours, adding more water if necessary and a little more salt, if desired.
• The sauce should be smooth and creamy.
• Serve the Italian Snails Bobbio Style very hot, with polenta, a green salad or spinach sauteed in a little butter.

Note:
The Italian name for the Snails Bobbio Style dish is Lumache alla Bobbiese.

Hints:
If fresh snails are unavailable, canned or frozen snails may be substituted. Preparation of fresh snails takes time, so start several days before you plan to serve them. Live snails must be starved for a period, to eliminate any poisonous substances they may have ingested: place the snails in a loose weave sack with plenty of bran. After 6 days discard any dead snails and extract the live ones from their shells. Rub them with salt or maize flour and rinse repeatedly to get rid of the slime; pull off the black visceral spiral and discard. (If you are using canned or frozen snails, drain them and continue from this point.)

This recipe for Italian Snails Bobbio Style serves/makes: 4

Main Ingredient: Snails
Preparation Method: Poached/Simmered
Cuisine: Italian