makes
50
prep
40 minutes
cook
25 minutes
difficulty
Easy
makes
50
serves
preparation
40
minutes
cooking
25
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
To be authentic, they should be made with a local variety of large green olives in brine called Tenere Ascolane. If you can’t find these, don’t worry, it’s fine to use other large green olives. They are stuffed with three kinds of meat, rolled in breadcrumbs and then fried. They require a bit of work, and ideally an olive pitter but they’re very impressive for when guests drop by!
Ingredients
- olive oil, for cooking
- 25 g (1 oz) finely diced carrot
- 25 g (1 oz) finely diced celery
- 25 g (1 oz) finely chopped onion
- 75 g (2¾ oz) minced (ground) beef
- 75 g (2¾ oz) minced (ground) pork
- 75 g (2¾ oz) minced (ground) chicken
- 60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) dry white wine
- pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- pinch of ground cloves
- 20 g (¾ oz) grated parmesan
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
- 10 g (⅓ oz) crustless bread, torn into chunks
- 1 small egg, lightly beaten
- 50 large green olives
- garlic mayonnaise (optional)
Crumb
- plain (all purpose) flour
- 1 egg, lightly beaten with a splash of milk
- homemade fresh breadcrumbs
Instructions
Heat a good glug of olive oil in a frying pan over a low–medium heat. Add the carrot, celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the mince and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until the meat is browned. Turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Stir frequently until the wine evaporates, then transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside to cool.
Place the cooled mixture in a food processor and add the nutmeg, ground clove, parmesan, lemon zest, bread and egg. Pulse a few times until a paste forms. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside in the fridge, covered, until ready to use.
To prepare the olives, remove the pit with an olive pitter and then, starting at the end where the stalk was attached, cut a spiral with a paring knife through the olive from the top to the base, so that it can be opened up and the filling put inside. Repeat with the remaining olives.
Make small olive-pit shapes with the filling and insert them in the space left behind by the olive pit, then close the spiral. The olives should be only slightly bigger than before the pit was removed.
To crumb the olives, fill three separate shallow dishes with the flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs. Dredge the olives one at a time, first in the flour, then in the egg and finally the breadcrumbs. If you like, double-crumb the olives to get a thicker coating. Set aside on a plate.
Heat plenty of olive oil in a small saucepan to 180°C (350°F). Deep-fry the olives until golden all over – this will take less than 1 minute. Drain on kitchen towel and serve warm with garlic mayonnaise, if desired.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
To be authentic, they should be made with a local variety of large green olives in brine called Tenere Ascolane. If you can’t find these, don’t worry, it’s fine to use other large green olives. They are stuffed with three kinds of meat, rolled in breadcrumbs and then fried. They require a bit of work, and ideally an olive pitter but they’re very impressive for when guests drop by!
