escargot for vegetarians
Diana, if you’re reading this, this one’s for you…! 🙂
My £1 bargain from the Nuthill car boot sale
Vegetarian escargot
I must have been seven or eight years old the first time I tried escargot baked in their shells and smothered in garlic and parsley butter. Of all places, it was at the American Club in Singapore, and it was love at first bite!
So when I managed to snaffle an escargot baking dish at a car boot sale recently (read about that here), one would think that snails would be the first thing I’d try to cook in it. But it wasn’t.
Don't plan on going out on a hot date after this meal
The first thought that actually popped into my head was how it was such a shame that some of my vegan friends might be missing out on such a fabulous dish. So I got to thinking, what could I do to create a vegetarian version that my vegetarian friends would love just as much as the carnivores would? Snails are great but it’s the garlic and parsley butter that bring the escargot to life.
Most of the recipes you’ll find online use mushrooms. And then it hit me. Tempeh.
Snails made out of tempeh
So, all I’ve done is to replace the snails with some tempeh which I’ve pressed into little balls.
Without messing with tradition, I’ve baked these veggie escargot in a traditional garlic and parsley butter and the result is pure, buttery and garlicky awesomeness!!! It’s worked better than I ever expected, with the added bonus that my kitchen now smells like I think a French brasserie would. 🙂
If you’re game to try this vegetarian version of baked escargot, the only thing I’d say is make sure you have plenty of fresh bread ready to sop up all of that rich goodness.
This certainly isn’t diet food – I’ll be posting some salad recipes this coming week to make up for this rich treat – but it sure is worth every buttery, garlicky bite. Click here for the recipe and bon app!
Tempeh bubbling in a bath of buttery,garlicky goodness
Lots of love
thebigfatnoodle
thebigfatnoodle 
I love escargot and having been forced into vegetarianism I thought I would miss out on something like escargot. A friend of mine suggested Tempeh and I read about it more often now. I’ve seen it at the store and I just can’t seem to get myself to purchase it. After reading your blog though I think I can manage to push past my own road block and get it. Thank you!
Michelle 🙂
Hi Michelle, thanks very much. Glad you like the idea. these were really, really yummy and I hope it’ll convince you to try eating tempeh. I have a Thai salad recipe with fried tempeh which I’ll be publishing later in the week too – I love the stuff!
This looks really amazing! Never thought I’d do something like this but hey, it looks amazing.
That is the craziest idea I’ve ever heard… I like it.