Recipe

Cheese Stuffed Fried Olives, 2 Ways

  • I’m that person. You know, the one pretending to go wash my hands in a restaurant so that I can not so subtly look at whats on everyones tables. Or the one who walks by people sitting at a sidewalk table outside of a little pastaria in Italy and asks them what their eating because the smell coming off there table is so intoxicating that I just can’t resist.

    I’m Danielle, I love food. Nice to meet you.

    We were lucky enough to spend this past in southern Italy with Miriam Schreiber on one of her legendary Legacy Tours trips. My children had the most amazing time touring ancient cities, volcanoes and roman ruins. I had the most amazing time staring at peoples plates. Every where we went there were little hole-in-wall restaurants/cafes serving the most simple looking, but ridiculously incredible smelling food. Obviously I had to stop and ask every single table of patrons we passed and ask them what they were eating.

    There were a few dishes that stood out in my mind that I knew I had to recreate. I had to wait for the perfect opportunity though to spring these recipes on you all. Some are a little too labor intensive for a regular dairy week night dinner. But, for Shavuous, a holiday that we are willing to go the extra step for to create a beautiful dairy kiddish or meal, is the perfect opportunity!

    You’ll have to wait a little longer for a few of the other dishes that MUST be recreated, but I wanted to start you off with a BANG.

    These olives were on sooooo many peoples tables. Usually, served as a small appetizer over a fresh, house made tomato sauce that was probably made from San Marzano tomatoes pick the day before!

    We may not have fresh San Marzano tomatoes but we all have access to cheese, olives and breadcrumbs!

    Do not miss the chance to make these olives. This is definitely not a recipe that you’ll try later.. You need to make these while the shavuous cooking feels are in the air! They take a few extra minutes to make but I included prep ahead instructions into the recipes!

    Also, because I was so obsessed with them, and genuinely could not decided which h version of the olives I liked more (the green mozzarella stuffed or the kalamata labaneh stuffed), I included both recipes! I even included 2 different ways you can serve them!

    Oh, and BONUS, another awesome salad dressing!

    Wishing you all a Happy Monday and of course, HAPPY COOKING!

    ✌&,

    Danielle

     

  • LABANE STUFFED FRIED KALAMTA OLIVES

    Ingredients

    1. 2 cups pitted kalamata olives
    2. 1/2 cup labane cheese
    3. 2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
    4. 2 tsp. Granulated garlic
    5. 4 cups panko breadcrumbs (or any UNSEASONED crumbs)
    6. 5 eggs
    7. 1/4 cup milk
    8. 2 cups flour
    9. 1 tbsp granulated garlic
    10. 2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional but recommended)
    11. 1 & 1/2 cups canola or grape seed oil
    12. (I know it says cayenne and garlic twice… keep reading!)
    13. *6-8 cups Butter lettuce
    14. *3 radishes, thinly sliced
    15. *3 cucumbers, halved, seeds removed, sliced
    16. *Balsamic and shallot vinaigrette

    Instructions

    1. Place labane in a bowl along with the first amounts of cayenne pepper and granulated garlic
    2. Mix well until they are combined.
    3. Place mixture in a small ziplock bag and cut a tiny tiny piece of one of the corners.
    4. Insert the cut corner into the top of each olive and gently squeeze until the olive is stuffed.
    5. Set aside to prepare the breading station.
    6. Place oil in a small sauce pan over medium high to begin heating.
    7. Place flour in a shallow dish and combine with granulated garlic and cayenne.
    8. In another shallow dish combine the eggs and milk. Whisk until they are well blended.
    9. In the last shallow dish, add the bread crumbs.

    Take olives (you can do a few at a time) and bread them

    1. Flour
    2. Egg
    3. Breadcrumbs
    4. THEN
    5. Egg
    6. &
    7. Breadcrumbs
    8. (Yes, egg and bread twice. Because. Crunch.)
    9. Gently drop a few olives into the oil and fry for about 1-1&1/2 minutes until they are lightly golden.
    10. Place fried olives on a paper towel lined baking sheet for a minute.
    11. Serve immediately.
    12. I like to serve these as the crouton and cheese element of a greek salad. Place all the vegetables into a bowl or onto a platter. Drizzle dressing over the veggies then pile on the fried olives!

    PREPAHEAD INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Once the olives are breaded place them in a Tupperware or baking dish. If layering the olives, place a piece of parchment paper between the layers. Freeze immediately. To cook, just take them out of the freezer and fry. Don’t wait for them to defrost!

    MOZZARELLA STUFFED FRIED GREEN OLIVES

    Ingredients

    1. 2 cups large pitted green olives
    2. 1, tennis ball sized piece fresh mozzarella in water
    3. 4 cups panko breadcrumbs (or any UNSEASONED crumbs)
    4. 5 eggs
    5. 1/4 cup milk
    6. 2 cups flour
    7. 1 tbsp granulated garlic
    8. 2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional but recommended)
    9. 1 & 1/2 cups canola or grape seed oil
    10. *3 cups plain tomato sauce (no chunks or spices!), lightly heated through
    11. *grated parmesan

    Instructions

    1. Look at the size of your olives, and how big the opening is by where the pit used to be.
    2. Cut mozzarella into small rectangles a little smaller than the opening.
    3. Stuff each olive with one piece of mozzarella.
    4. Set aside to prepare the breading station.
    5. Place oil in a small sauce pan over medium high to begin heating.
    6. Place flour in a shallow dish and combine with granulated garlic and cayenne.
    7. In another shallow dish combine the eggs and milk. Whisk until they are well blended.
    8. In the last shallow dish, add the bread crumbs.

    Take olives (you can do a few at a time) and bread them

    1. Flour
    2. Egg
    3. Breadcrumbs
    4. THEN
    5. Egg
    6. &
    7. Breadcrumbs
    8. (Yes, egg and bread twice. Because. Crunch.)
    9. Gently drop a few olives into the oil and fry for about 1-1&1/2 minutes until they are lightly golden.
    10. Place fried olives on a paper towel lined baking sheet for a minute.
    11. Serve immediately.
    12. I like to serve this version of the stuffed fried olives over a slightly warm tomato sauce, sprinkled with copious amounts of parmesan cheese!

    PREPAHEAD INSTRUCTIONS

    1. Once the olives are breaded place them in a Tupperware or baking dish. If layering the olives, place a piece of parchment paper between the layers. Freeze immediately. To cook, just take them out of the freezer and fry. Don’t wait for them to defrost!

    BALSAMIC AND SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE

    Ingredients

    1. 1/2 cup finely diced shallots (about 3-4 small shallots or 2 very large ones)
    2. 2 cloves of garlic, grated
    3. 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
    4. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
    5. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
    6. 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
    7. *If using this dressing for a different salad, add another 1/2 tsp. of salt. I kept it less salty here, because olives are on the saltier side already.

    Instructions

    1. Place everything in a pint size jar or container. Shake well. Refrigerate until serving.

    Notes

    1. *The dressing gets better as it sits so that the shallots have time to marinate in the dressing. It’s best if you can make it at least 1 day in advance.
    2. **Can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

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