| 1 | Make the french bread dough recipe at least 1 day beforehand if you can. |
| 2 | Roll the dough out into the shape of a pizza, put it on a pizza pan,and set it aside. |
| 3 | It will keep in the refrigerator overnight. |
| 4 | Prepare the dried mushrooms according to published recipes (soak, wash, cut, resoak, wash, drain). |
| 5 | If the snails are too large (larger than a garlic clove), then cut them in pieces. |
| 6 | Drain the snails well. |
| 7 | Melt the butter in a baking dish, add the snails, crushed garlic, about ?salt and ground black pepper to taste. |
| 8 | 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. |
| 9 | Take them out. |
| 10 | Spread the tomato sauce in an even layer on the bread, then sprinkle the raclette cheese over it. |
| 11 | Add the snails, and then the mushrooms. |
| 12 | Sprinkle with fresh parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. |
| 13 | Bake at 425 °F. |
| 14 | In the top rack for 12 minutes (bottom rack will burn the crust). |
| 15 | 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. |
| 16 | I concocted this dish for the occasion, and it was a success. |
| 17 | If you aren"t sure you like escargot, this is not the dish to experiment with! yield: 1 large pizza. |
| 18 | * the first time i made this recipe i made it with morel mushrooms. |
| 19 | Their flavor overwhelmed even the garlic snails. |
| 20 | It was good, but it didn"t have the balance i was looking for. |
| 21 | Chanterelles seem to fit better. |
| 22 | 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. |
| 23 | European dried mushrooms seem always to have rocks and dirt in them; asian dried mushrooms never do. |
| 24 | I guess the asians wash them better before they dry them. |
| 25 | It"s impossible to get all of the rocks out. |
| 26 | * raclette cheese is so much better than any other kind of cheese in this recipe that it is worth looking for. |
| 27 | If you absolutely cannot get it, use fondue cheese or a gruyere. |
| 28 | * raw butter also tastes more "authentic" in this recipe. |
| 29 | What you really want to use is normandy butter, but it"s hard to get in north america. |
| 30 | Alta dena raw butter is available in california; it makes a noticeable difference in the flavor of the escargot. |
| 31 | I don"t know of any other states in which it is legal to buy raw butter. |
| 32 | : difficulty: easy to moderate. |
| 33 | : time: 30 minutes. |
| 34 | : precision: approximate measurement ok. |
