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Babbaluci
Snails with garlic and parsley
Babbaluci a picchipacchi: Palermo snails with garlic, parsley and olive oil for Santa Rosalia
During the Festino di Santa Rosalia in July, Palermo's patron saint's festival, stalls along the streets sell paper cones of babbaluci: small snails in their shells, cooked with masses of garlic, parsley and olive oil and sucked straight from the shell. It is a very old street food of the city. At home, buy snails that have already been purged, cleaned and pre-cooked from a fishmonger or Italian deli, so the work is just the sauce. Chef's tip: simmer the snails gently in the oil, never boil hard, or they go rubbery and leave the shells.
- Total time
- 45 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb cleaned, pre-cooked snails in shellsrinsed well
- ½ cup olive oil
- 8 cloves garlicthinly sliced
- 1 large handful flat-leaf parsleychopped
- 2 ripe tomatoes (optional)chopped
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ¾ cup water
- 1 loaf crusty breadto serve
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Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Rinse the 1 ¾ lb cleaned, pre-cooked snails in shells in several changes of cold water and drain. Throw away any that smell unpleasant or have broken shells.
5 minStep 3: Add the snails, 2 ripe tomatoes if using, ½ tsp chilli flakes, ¾ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper and ¾ cup water. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, shaking the pan now and then. A common mistake is serving them barely warmed: they should be piping hot right through, steaming when you pull one from its shell.
20 minStep 4: Stir in the 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, taste for salt and serve hot in bowls with the oil spooned over, toothpicks for pulling out the snails and 1 loaf crusty bread for mopping.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 18 g
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does babbaluci take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of flat-leaf parsley?
- Curly parsley or coriander, same amount.
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