Fried Stuffed Olives (Olive Ascolane)

Fried stuffed olives (Olive Ascolane) is a classic appetizer from Italy made using large green olives stuffed with meat, coated with breadcrumbs, and deep fried. With a delicious crispy coating, a rich salty bite of olives and meat mixed with many spices are hidden inside. They are the "posh" version of the ordinary cocktail olives.

Jump to:

• What are Olive Ascolane
• The authentic origin of this recipe
• Steps to make this recipe
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How to serve the fried stuffed olives
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• FAQ
• 📋 Fried Stuffed Olives

What are Olive Ascolane

Olive Ascolane are a type of green olive very large in size and with a thick chunky pulp.

They are originally from Ascoli Piceno a town in the Italian Marche region, that is why they are called Ascolane.

These olives are perfect to be stuffed and fried as their pulp is large enough to hold a filling and thick enough to still appreciate its taste even if it has a crispy fried crust.

They have become very popular and served as a starter with a fritto misto, a selection of fried finger food.

Traditionally in Ascoli they are served with fried custard Cremini, as the combination of the savory olives is an excellent contrast to the sweetness of the custard and the cocktail.

Other fried starters you can serve together with the fried stuffed olives are fried Crispelle, fried mozzarella balls and sticks, fried risotto balls (not arancini), and fried Neapolitan pizza.

These fried foods are served in paper cones a classic Italian street food in many towns and regions, Naple, Liguria, and Marche.

The authentic origin of this recipe

This olive Ascolane recipe is an authentic recipe from Ascoli Piceno in the Italian Marche region.

My aunt by marriage, Zia Benella, who is originally from Ascoli Piceno got this recipe from her mother Maria.

Zia Benella is a great cook and at every family reunion, she always prepares some special recipes.

I still remember with joy when her mother Maria was coming to visit.

My aunt's kitchen would be transformed into a large-scale cooking operation full of spices and baking fragrances.

There was always some special recipe from Marche being made, and I preciously collected them all, including fried stuffed olives and fried custard.

Steps to make this recipe

This is a long recipe to make as it requires several steps which are:

1. Making the ragu - meat sauce
2. Mincing the ragu and preparing the stuffing
3. Cutting the olives and filling them
4. Coating them with breadcrumbs and frying them

Ingredients

The most important ingredient for this recipe is green olives.

• Olive Ascolane: it is a variety of green olives that are 2 in - 5 cm long and have a thick fleshy pulp. It is not easy to find them outside Ascoli, so you will have to use the largest olives you can find. Make sure you buy them already pitted, pitting olives will take forever. Also you will have more chances of breaking them.

The rest of the ingredients can be sorted into 3 different categories:

1. Ingredients to make the ragu (meat sauce)
2. Ingredients to complete the stuffing
3. Ingredients to make the coating

Ingredients for the ragu

Meat

Very Important: the meat should be chopped into large chunks as it has to remain moist and juicy once cooked. If it is cut too small, it will dehydrate too much and the stuffing will be too dry.

The meat is a combination of:

• Beef: a lean cut that is good for meat sauce
• Chicken: thighs are best as they have more flavor. No skin.
• Pork: a lean cut of pork loin

Vegetables

• Carrot, celery and onion: coarsely chopped. The meat sauce will be minced, therefore it is not necessary to cut the vegetables too fine
• Tomato sauce: use a regular simple tomato sauce without any additional flavoring. You can buy it bottled or canned or find the homemade recipe: simple tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes

Seasoning

• Butter: the meat sauce is cooked in butter, NOT olive oil or vegetable oil
• Cognac: the meat is deglazed with cognac or white wine. Do NOT use strong liqueurs like red wine or Marsala
• Salt

Ingredients to complete the stuffing

• Stale bread: this is needed to add moisture to the stuffing. It should be regular white bread with a very mild flavor
• Chicken stock: to moist the stale bread. You can make the stock with half of a chicken stock cube dissolved in hot water
• Grated parmesan: you can use Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano. Do not use imitations.
• Lemon zests: make sure you are using untreated lemons, as Lemons are often treated with wax.
• Nutmeg: use freshly grated nutmeg.
• Eggs: fresh medium size eggs

Ingredients for the coating

• Flour: all-purpose flour
• Eggs: additional eggs for coating
• Breadcrumbs: regular white bread breadcrumbs without any added flavor
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Make the ragu (meat sauce)

1. In a frying pan, stir fry the chopped meat of chicken, pork and beef with butter
2. Once the meat is seared, pour the cognac and let it simmer for few seconds
3. Add the vegetables and salt. Stir until the vegetables are slightly cooked
4. Add the tomato sauce, stir to combine and let it simmer for 20 minutes
5. Remove from the stove and let it cool down

Mince the meat sauce

1. Once the meat sauce is cold, pass it through a fine meat grinder
2. Then pass it again a second time to make sure the meat is finely ground

Note: If you don't have a meat grinder you can use a regular food blender, but the texture will not be the same. The meat grinder will leave the meat structure intact, therefore giving it a better texture. The blender instead will transform it into a mushy food.

Prepare the stuffing

1. Pour the chicken stock over the stale bread and let it soak for 30 minutes until it is completely soft
2. Mix all the ingredient for the stuffing making sure everything is well combined

Hint: The stuffing should have the consistency of a meatloaf. If it is too dry, you can add some of the tomato sauce from the meat sauce.

Cutting and stuffing the olives

1. Cut each olive into a spiral (see picture)
2. Leave them in water to keep them moist
3. Place a small amount of stuffing inside the olive spiral and reconstruct the olives. The pulp of the olive should spiral around the stuffing.
4. Use enough stuffing to make an oval size of 1.5x1 in - 4x3 cm

Coating the olives and frying them

1. Place the flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs into 3 separate bowls
2. Coat each stuffed olive first in the flour
3. Second into the eggs
4. Third into breadcrumbs
5. Deep fry the stuffed olives until golden
6. Place them on a kitchen paper towel to absorb the excess oil

How to serve the fried stuffed olives

Fried stuffed olives are served with lemon wedges as a starter with an aperitif. Usually they are served with a selection of fried finger food like fried custard, fried mozzarella sticks and balls, fried crispelle.

Fried custard is a classic fried appetizer served with fried olives in Ascoli Piceno, but it is rare to find it everywhere else in Italy.

The combination of sweet and salty appetizers with an aperitif is very common in Italy and they are often served as street food during a "Movida".

Movida is a new Italian word originated from the Spanish word meaning on the move.

It is used to describe a large crowd outside bars consuming a light dinner with cocktails.

Fried finger food is the perfect street food to serve on these occasions.

Substitutions

If you want to make a vegetarian version of these stuffed olives, you could substitute the meat with an eggplant mixture.

You can find a recipe for deep-fried eggplant balls and use this recipe as the stuffing.

It should work but I have never tried it.

If you want to substitute the meat stuffing with cheese, you need to be careful that the cheese doesn't leak outside the breadcrumbs and melt into the oil creating a mess.

Do not cut the olives into spirals but leave them intact.

You can place a small amount of cheese inside the olive, where the pit was.

Also coat the olives with breadcrumbs twice for an extra layer.

An example of double coated fried breaded cheese, you can check out the recipe: fried mozzarella sticks and balls.

Equipment

To make this recipe it is important to have a proper meat grinder.

I use the attachment with my KitchenAid which can also be used as a vegetables strainer for canning tomatoes or jams.

If you don't have a meat grinder then you can use a regular food blender but the texture will not be the same.

The meat grinder will leave the meat structure intact, therefore giving it a better texture. The blender instead will transform it into mushy food.

If you are frying a large number of starters for a party, I recommend using a deep fryer, as it will make the frying so much easier and faster.

Especially if you have guests over, and you don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

However, if you don't have a deep fryer, you can use a pot filled with vegetable oil.

Storage

You can store the fried stuffed olives in the fridge for up to 3 days.

When you want to serve them again warm them up in a hot oven for 10 minutes at 355 F - 180 C.

You can also freeze them before you fry them and fry them directly from the freezer when you want to serve them.

Top tip

When making the meat sauce, the meat should be chopped into large chunks as it has to remain moist and juicy once cooked. If it is cut too small, it will dehydrate too much and the stuffing will be too dry.

FAQ

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