Рецепт Italian Fried Olives...
G'morning! I start each day with a trip around blogland, checking in on my favorites. This morning when I visited Sew We Quilt/Stash Manicure my morning mocktail almost shot out my nose! I am part of a new feature today on Stash - an interview feature! So, if you're bored out of your mind and willing to waste a bit more time on the computer, head on over to Stash and read about yours truly...you might get a glimpse into how I think, or more likely, how I don't!
Stuffed and fried olives, or, if you like, Italian Candy. They're magic. Aphrodisiacs, too. So be careful who you serve them to...I mean, first of all, make sure they are worthy of this very special appetizer and second, be prepared for their amorous attentions because fried olives work better than oysters, or so I've heard.
The mister and I first had these when we were in Rome. And let me get it on the record right now, they are high-fivin'-lip-smackin'-eye-rollin'-delicious!
The minute jet-lag left my body I was determined to make fried olives. I set about doing a search for them on-line...tried several recipes, none quite hit home. The olives we had in Rome were stuffed with sausage and cheese and they were HUGE olives. I couldn't find any olives that large in Seattle, and even my very favorite olives, Castelvetranos, which I had hoped to stuff, were no where near big enough. So I ended up using large Spanish olives that were already stuffed with pimiento - only I removed the pimiento. That was easy and because the olives were previously stuffed, there was a nice, big, uniform opening for me to fill. After several different versions, we ended up loving the olives stuffed with Asiago cheese. When you bite into one of these babies, you'll experience the crunch from the fried crust, made from bread crumbs and cheese crackers, then the saltiness of the olive and finally, the melted Asiago cheese - as I like to say, it's a trifecta of flavors!
Italian Fried Olives - Pots and Pins
10 large green olives, pitted, rinsed and thoroughly dried (if using an olive that has already been stuffed with pimientos or something else, remove the stuffing and save for another use.)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup cheese crackers, crushed into crumbs (I used Cheez-It Crackers)
- 1 large egg
- Asiago cheese, cut into small pieces, approximately 1/4-inch thick by length of olives
- vegetable oil for frying
Marinara sauce for serving, optional
Put flour, bread and cracker crumbs in a shallow dish and mix to combine. Lightly beat egg in a small bowl. Slip a piece of cheese into each olive. Dredge each olive in flour, then dip each olive in egg; remove olive from egg with a fork, letting excess drip off, then roll in breadcrumb mixture to coat.
Heat about 2 cups oil in a heavy-bottomed small saucepan over medium-high heat until hot. Fry olives, 3 to 4 at a time for about 30 to 45 seconds or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve with marinara sauce, if desired. Makes 3 servings.
*These olives are also great stuffed with other cheeses as well - like Gorgonzola or Parmesan. I have tried stuffing the olives with a sausage and ricotta cheese mixture and while it was wonderful tasting, the olives just weren't large enough to get enough stuffing into them!
Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the Kingsford Charcoal contest!! The voting is now closed (actually they shut it down early because they had some MAJOR glitches in their system!) and when it ended I was still in 4th place - the BBQ Bubba's beat me! So while I won't get to go to Vegas to attend their BBQ University, and I'm a bit sad about that, the mister said he would take me on a "consolation trip"...which probably means I'll get to go with him to Home Depot or something equally as exciting!
But truly, thanks so much for your support and I promise not to involve you in any future contests!!