Today on Ricette Sarde we're talking about Sarcidano-style snails (tzitzigorrus a sa sarcidanesa), a traditional dish from the Sarcidano region that showcases small and medium-sized land snails, harvested after the autumn and spring rains.
Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, plus drying time
Difficulty: low
Ingredients: 1 kg snails; 150 g semolina (durum wheat flour); 3 eggs; extra virgin olive oil (enough for frying); 1 lemon; salt.
Preparation
• Fill a large, high-sided bowl with salted water acidulated with the juice of half a lemon.
• Place the snails inside and shake them, rubbing them to clean them for about 1 hour, changing the water several times.
• When they are perfectly clean and no longer slimy, wash them for a long time (15 minutes), drain them and place them in a tall saucepan with plenty of unsalted water, initially cold, so that they come out of their shells.
• Raise the heat to maximum, add salt and cook for a total of 30-35 minutes.
• Drain them and remove them from the shell with the appropriate hook or a toothpick (10 minutes).
• Dry them well with a kitchen towel and leave them to air for 2 hours.
• Beat the eggs for 2 minutes with a fork, then gradually add the semolina and 2 pinches of salt; mix for 3 minutes.
• Turn the snails in this mixture until they are well coated (2 minutes).
• Fry them in plenty of hot oil, covering them almost completely, for 6 minutes.
• Drain them on paper towels to absorb the excess oil; arrange them on a serving dish (5 minutes).
• Serve hot, accompanied by the other half of the lemon slices.
Recommended wine
Tirso Valley IGT Rosé.