Fried Spicy Sausage-Stuffed Green Olives

True Confession – I read decades old Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and the now defunct Gourmet magazines whenever we take road trips down a long, wide, never ending ribbon of highway. Winding, dipping, curling country roads won’t work—nor do I want them to—but boring highways?  That’s another story.  The miles melt while I read articles and recipes, imagining their tastes. That is how I discovered one of my absolutely favorite appetizer recipes—Fried Spicy Sausage-Stuffed Green Olives.

Even the name sounded intriguing—Fried Spicy Sausage-Stuffed Green Olives—and as I read, I could just imagine the salty, crunchy, savory goodness.  After my first foray in trying this recipe, I discovered you can’t eat just one! I also discovered short cuts to the recipe and a production line way of preparing them.  In all honesty, they are still a bit labor intensive, but worth every second of every minute to assemble them.

Originating in Italy, the original recipe called for sweet Italian sausages with an array of spices and herbs to make them a bit spicier. My simplification was to use Owen’s brand hot breakfast sausage.

Try them! I promise you will love them–a lot!

Fried Spicy Sausage-Stuffed Green Olives

Ingredients

• 4 ounces Owen’s Brand Hot Breakfast Sausage
• 30 + large green pitted olives  
• 1 ½ cups panko  
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon water
• Vegetable oil (for frying)

Instructions

Using ½ teaspoon of the sausage, form as many football shaped sausages as you can.  Place them on a plate and place in the refrigerator while you prep the olives.

Drain the large olives and pat them dry.  Cut a slit lengthwise down 1 side of each olive being careful not to cut through to the other side.  Do this to as many olives as you have tiny sausage shaped footballs.

Remove the sausage stuffing from the refrigerator and stuff the olives with sausage mixture, pressing gently on olive to seal (some sausage will show). Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the coating.

Grind panko in a food processor until finely ground. Place panko in a lightweight medium sized bowl.  Add 2 teaspoons of water to eggs and whisk well to blend, place in another bowl. Place flour in yet another bowl. Working with 3 – 4 olives at a time, roll in flour to coat, then place all of the flour-coated olives in the beaten egg, swirling the bowl to make sure each olive is covered with the egg wash. With a wide slotted spatula, transfer the olives to the bowl containing the panko crumbs. Swirl and toss the olives in the bowl till they are completely coated with the crumbs.  Place on a large plate and refrigerate till you are ready to fry them.  This can be done the morning of your dinner party.  

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Use a deep fryer according to manufacturer’s instructions or add enough oil to a heavy large saucepan to reach a depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium heat to 350°F. Working in batches (no more than 10-12 olives at a time), add olives to hot oil and cook until deep golden brown and sausage is cooked through, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the sausages are close to done, they will rise to the top of the oil. Using a slotted spoon, transfer fried olives to paper towels to drain. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note:

Prepare approximately 6 olives per guest. If you have more sausage footballs than you need, place on a tray and freeze for approximately 30 – 60 minutes. Then place in an airtight bag for up to one month. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.

Addendum:

I discovered after the fact when making these for my last party, that the entire stuffed olive can be slit, stuffed and breaded, then frozen. After stuffing and breading all of my olives I found that I had 9 more than I needed. I knew I could fry them with all of the others and they would be eaten, but I decided instead to put them to a freezer test.

Three days after the party I fried them for a quick happy hour. They were delicious! I couldn’t tell the difference at all.

If you want to do this, freeze the entire batch with the olives not touching on a cookie sheet. When frozen, place in a resealable freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible. When ready to cook, remove from plastic bag and place on a paper towel lined sheet, allowing to thaw before frying. Do not cover.

What to Drink:

Sparkling Wine, Gin or Vodka Martini’s, a French 75, or my new favorite cocktail, a Corpse Reviver #2

French 75

Serves 6

• 3 ounces lemon juice
• 6 ounces gin
• 3 ounces Cointreau
• Brut champagne or cava

Combine lemon juice, gin and Cointreau in a small pitcher. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

At serving time divide gin mixture among six champagne glasses, fill with chilled champagne or cava.

Corpse Reviver #2

Serves 1

• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1 ounce Lillet
• 1/8 teaspoon quality absinthe 

Combine ingredients over ice, shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. A garnish is unnecessary, but you may use either a twist of lemon or orange or a Luxardo maraschino cherry.

Note: I like to combine enough for a group, i.e., 6 ounces of gin lemon juice Cointreau and Lillet and 1 ½ teaspoons of absinthe in a pitcher, then pour enough for one guest into the cocktail shaker, shake, and serve.