Italian Sausage & Cheese Stuffed Fried Olives
Ingredients:
1 Italian sausage, casing removed
3 tablespoons goat cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped
½ teaspoon lemon peel, grated
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
Pinch of salt and pepper
30 large green olives, pitted
½ cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon water
Vegetable oil
Directions:
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients and mix until well-combined
Roll a pinch of the mixture between your thumb and your forefinger and then stuff the ball into the pitted olive. Push the stuffing in to tightly pack and add more if necessary. Continue with all of the olives.
Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the breadcrumbs onto a rimmed baking sheet. Place the leftover breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl, place the flour in another shallow bowl, and place the egg and teaspoon of water in a third shallow bowl and whisk to combine.
Roll each olive in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg to coat, and then roll in the breadcrumbs until fully covered.
Place the breaded olives on the baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate until ready to fry.
In a heavy, large saucepan or deep-fryer, add the vegetable oil until a depth of 3 inches is reached. When the oil has heated and begins to bubble slightly, carefully add the olives.
Cook them for about 5-7 minutes, or until the exterior reaches a deep golden brown and the sausage inside is cooked. Carefully remove the olives from the oil using a slotted spoon and set them on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Repeat with the next batch of olives until all olives have been fried.
