The Mediterranean · Volume 01, Butter, Egg Pasta and the Roman Hinge

Oliva Ascolana del Piceno

Name: Oliva Ascolana del Piceno
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 6 as a starter
Cuisine: Northern & Central Italy
Ingredients: 600 g large green olives, Ascolana tenera variety, pitted, at least 40% of the finished weight; 250 g beef, 40 to 70% of the filling meat; 150 g pork, 30 to 50% of the filling meat; 50 g chicken or turkey, optional, up to 10%; 1 onion, carrot, celery stalk, finely chopped; a little dry white wine; 3 eggs, per kg of meat mixture; 100 g aged grated cheese, per kg of meat mixture, maximum; a pinch nutmeg; as needed flour, egg, breadcrumb for coating; as needed oil for frying

The Marche, crossing into Abruzzo

Olive all'ascolana, large green olives stuffed with a mixed meat filling, breaded and deep fried: a small pile of golden brown, deep fried stuffed olives with a crisp, evenly bronzed breadcrumb coating, one cut in half to reveal the pale meat filling inside.

An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.

Time: 1 hour

Researched: 14 sources cited
Reviewed: Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
Cooked: Not yet cooked and reported

The DOP zone itself is 89 comuni across Ascoli Piceno and Fermo provinces in the Marche, plus Teramo province, formally in Abruzzo, direct administrative evidence, cited above, that this sub-region's food geography does not respect the conventional centre and south line.

As tradition built it

Serves 6 as a starter. About 1 hour.

Ingredients

600 g large green olives, Ascolana tenera variety, pitted, at least 40% of the finished weight
250 g beef, 40 to 70% of the filling meat
150 g pork, 30 to 50% of the filling meat
50 g chicken or turkey, optional, up to 10%
1 onion, carrot, celery stalk, finely chopped
a little dry white wine
3 eggs, per kg of meat mixture
100 g aged grated cheese, per kg of meat mixture, maximum
a pinch nutmeg
as needed flour, egg, breadcrumb for coating
as needed oil for frying

Method

Brown the beef, pork and optional chicken or turkey in olive oil or lard with the chopped onion, carrot and celery.
Deglaze with a little white wine, cook off.
Mince the cooked meat and vegetables together finely.
Work in the eggs, grated cheese and nutmeg to a smooth, cohesive paste.
Wrap each pitted olive around a small amount of filling, pressing to seal.
Coat in flour, then egg, then breadcrumb.
Fry in oil at a steady, moderate-high heat until deep gold, drain, serve hot.

What a modern chef changes

A held frying temperature, and the filling built for texture as much as flavour

Rung 2

Method

Hold the oil at a genuinely stable 175 to 180°C, checked with a thermometer rather than judged by eye. Too low and the coating soaks up oil before it crisps; too high and it colours before the filling is properly hot through. This is Rung 2's hot end applied precisely: the same discipline bagna cauda and guanciale apply at the low end.
Rest the coated olives in the fridge for 20 minutes before frying, so the breadcrumb sets and the coating holds together under the oil's heat rather than shedding into the fryer.
Fry in two short stages rather than one long one, an initial dip to set the coating, a rest, then a second, shorter fry to finish the colour, giving a more even, less greasy crust than a single continuous fry.

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