Olive all'Ascolana (Stuffed Fried Olives)

Ingredients

• 40 pieces Green olives in brine
• 150 g Pork
• 100 g Beef
• 100 g Chicken breast
• 1 small Onion
• 1 small Carrot
• 1 stalk Celery
• 80 ml White wine
• 1 piece Egg yolk
• 40 g Parmigiano reggiano
• 1 pinch Nutmeg
• 100 g All-purpose flour
• 2 pieces Eggs
• 150 g Breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 l Sunflower oil
• 1 to taste Salt
• 1 to taste Black pepper

Steps

1. Cut the pork, beef and chicken into small cubes.
2. Finely chop the onion, celery and carrot to make a soffritto.
3. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the soffritto and the meat cubes, and brown briefly over medium heat.
4. Raise the heat and pour in the white wine; let the alcohol evaporate.
5. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer gently for about 30 minutes until the meat is tender.
6. Transfer the meat and all its cooking juices to a meat grinder or food processor and grind to a fine, smooth mixture.
7. Stir in the egg yolk, grated Parmigiano, a generous grating of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste; the filling should be firm enough to shape.
8. Pit the olives with a small knife, cutting in a spiral around the stone to keep each olive in one piece.
9. Take a small amount of filling and wrap each olive back around it, reshaping it into its original oval form.
10. Set up three bowls: flour, beaten eggs with a pinch of salt, and breadcrumbs.
11. Roll each olive in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, pressing to coat evenly.
12. Heat plenty of oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot to 170-180°C (340-355°F).
13. Fry the olives a few at a time until deep golden and crisp, about 2-3 minutes.
14. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Tips

• Use large, firm green olives in brine (Ascolana tenera if you can find them). Pit them in a single spiral cut so they can be reshaped around the filling. For the crispest crust, double-bread the olives (flour-egg-breadcrumbs twice) and keep the oil steady at 170-180°C. They can be breaded ahead and frozen raw, then fried straight from frozen.