OLIVE ALL’ ASCOLANA (FRIED STUFFED OLIVES)

45 min

Ready in

25 min

Prep time

4-6

Servings

This appetizer is an absolute crowd pleaser. I have converted olive haters into lovers with this dish. Yes, they are stuffed with meat and cheese (hard to hate) but its mostly due to the delicious Castelvetrano olives – they have a mild, buttery taste (not really olivey), and have a wonderful meaty texture. Costco have my favourite Castelvetrano olives – they tend to be larger and perfect for stuffing.

Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

Wine Pairings: White Jura, White Bourgogne, White Rioja (Viura), Chablis, Soave

Ingredients

  • Meat stuffing
    • 100g ground beef
    • 100g ground pork
    • 50g ground veal (optional)
    • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
    • 2 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
    • Grated zest of 1 lemon
    • 1 egg yolk
    • S&P
  • Batter
    • Bread crumbs (the finer the better)
    • 1 whole egg
    • 2 tbsp milk
    • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Olives
    • 350g or 12oz of Castelvetrano Olives (roughly 40 olives)

Instructions

Stuffing the olives
  1. Pit the olives by lightly crushing each olive with a flat surface and discard the pits, trying to leave the olives as intact as possible.
  2. In a bowl, combine the ground pork, beef, veal, parmigiana, nutmeg, egg yolk, lemon zest, S&P.
  3. For each olive, pinch off meat and roll into a ball, and stuff into the olive. Press each olive to ensure it is sealed and no gaps are left inside the olive.
Frying the olives
  1. Heat oil in a saucepan until thermometer until thermometer reads 375f
  2. Whisk whole egg and milk in a bowl.
  3. Place bread crumbs and flour into their own bowls.
  4. Roll each olive in flour, dip in the egg wash, then coat with bread crumbs.
  5. Fry until crisp, dark brown, and cooked through (test the first two by cutting in half and seeing if the meat is being cooked through).
  6. Remove from pan with slotted metal spoon and transfer to paper towel-lined plate.
  7. Season with some grated parmesan.

Bon Appétit!