Fitting and stuffing olives by hand for olive all’ascolana, a traditional street snack from Italy’s Marche region, is no joke. But Joe Frillman, chef-owner of the Radicle, encourages you to keep your eyes on the prize: “The sweet and fatty sausage is cut nicely by the briny olive.” The stuffed, breaded olives freeze well and can be fried straight from the freezer (add a minute to the timer), so make a big batch when it suits you. Then, like Frillman, you will always have some on hand, ready to fry up.
MAKES: About 50 olives
ACTIVE TIME: 2 hours
TOTAL TIME: 4 hours
| 12 oz. | Italian fennel sausage (about 2 links), casings removed |
| ¼ cup | peeled, roughly chopped carrot |
| ¼ cup | roughly chopped celery |
| ¼ cup | roughly chopped onion |
| 1 Tbsp. | olive oil |
| ½ cup | finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano |
| 3 | large beaten eggs, divided |
| 2⅓ cups | plain breadcrumbs, divided |
| 1½ tsp. | nutmeg, divided |
| 50 | large olives, preferably Ascolana Tenera, Cerignola, or Castelvetrano |
| 1 cup | flour |
| ⅓ tsp. | salt, plus more for seasoning |
| 1 qt. | neutral oil |
1. Start the filling: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Crumble sausage over half a parchment-lined baking tray. Toss carrot, celery, and onion in olive oil, then arrange on the other half. Roast until sausage is cooked through and vegetables are softened but not browned, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to separate plates and refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.
2. Finish the filling: Pulse vegetables in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Process sausage in the same way and transfer to the bowl. Add cheese, two eggs, ⅓ cup breadcrumbs, and ¾ teaspoon nutmeg. Mix gently by hand until combined. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
3. Prep the olives: Insert the point of a paring knife into an olive until it meets the pit. Turn the knife in a spiral motion until the flesh has been separated. Set pitted olive on a tray and repeat until all olives are pitted. Pinch off a marble of filling and wrap a pitted olive around it. Set olive on the tray and repeat until all the filling is used.
4. Bread the olives: Place flour and remaining egg in separate shallow dishes and set beside each other. Combine remaining breadcrumbs with remaining nutmeg and ⅓ teaspoon salt in another dish and set alongside egg. Toss an olive in flour, then roll it in egg, followed by breadcrumbs. Set it on the tray and repeat until all olives are breaded.
5. Fry the olives: Fill a tall, heavy-bottomed pot with oil to a depth of around 3 inches. Heat oil over medium until it reaches 350 degrees. Carefully place 10 olives into oil and fry until deeply golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Continue working in batches, occasionally checking oil temperature and allowing to reheat as needed, until all olives have been fried. Season with salt.
Cate Huguelet is a freelance writer for Chicago magazine.