Olive all'Ascolana

Big green olives stoned in a spiral and stuffed with three meats before frying.

Chicken, Pork, Beef, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains beef, chicken, parmesan whose rennet the source does not name, pork.

Ingredients

• 60 large green olives in brine, such as Ascolana tenera
• 150 g beef, 100 g pork and 80 g chicken, all finely diced
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, chopped
• 100 ml dry white wine
• 60 g parmesan, grated
• 1 egg, for the filling
• nutmeg and lemon zest
• 100 g flour, 3 eggs and 200 g fine breadcrumbs, to coat
• 1 litre sunflower oil, for deep frying, which is poured off
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. STONE EACH OLIVE BY CUTTING A SPIRAL from top to bottom with a small knife, unwinding the flesh off the stone in one continuous ribbon, then winding it back up. The olive has to come apart and go back together — a halved olive will not hold a filling.
2. This is an hour's work for sixty and there is no shortcut that does not involve buying them ready stuffed.
3. Soften the vegetables, brown all three meats, add the wine, and cook 40 minutes until dry.
4. Mince the cooled mixture finely and bind with the parmesan, egg, nutmeg and zest. It must be stiff.
5. Push a little filling into each unwound olive and re-form it around the stuffing.
6. COAT IN FLOUR, THEN EGG, THEN BREADCRUMBS — and do the egg and crumbs TWICE. One coat splits in the oil and the filling escapes.
7. DEEP FRY at 175C for 3 minutes until deep gold. Drain, salt, and eat hot. Pour the oil off once cooled.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes