Fried Stuffed Olives

FOR THE COATING

These salty, crunchy morsels are stuffed with either anchovy or sun-dried tomatoes, but you can use ½ of both amounts for a mix, if you prefer. Halloumi also works well as an alternative filling.

about 24

● 250g pitted large green olives, we used Gordal

● Vegetable oil, to fry FOR THE STUFFING (CHOOSE ONE)

4 sun-dried tomatoes 8 marinated anchovies

● 15g plain flour

● 1 medium egg, beaten

● 75g fresh white breadcrumbs

1 Dry the olives using kitchen paper. If stuffing with sun-dried tomatoes, cut each in ½ widthways, then cut each piece into 3. If using anchovies, cut each into 3 to make shorter pieces. Stuff either a piece of anchovy or sun-dried tomato into each olive.

2 To coat, put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs into 3 small bowls. Season the flour with some freshly ground black pepper. Roll a handful of olives in the flour to coat. Lift out (shake off excess flour) and drop into the egg bowl. Turn in the egg, lift out (let excess egg drip off) and drop into the breadcrumb bowl. Turn to coat in the crumbs, rolling between your palms to stick them on. Lift on to a plate. Repeat to coat remaining olives.

3 Pour enough oil into a small-medium, heavy-based, high-sided pan so it’s about 3cm deep. Heat oil to 180°C.

4 Using a slotted spoon, lower ½ the coated olives into the hot oil and fry until golden and crisp, about 2min. Lift on to kitchen paper to drain. Fry the remaining olives, monitoring the oil temperature as you go. Allow to cool for a few min before serving.

PER CANAPÉ 146cals, 3g protein, 11g fat (1g saturates), 9g carbs (1g total sugars), 1g fibre

GET AHEAD Prepare to end of step 2 up to a day ahead. Loosely cover and chill. Complete recipe to serve. Alternatively, fry up to 6hr ahead. Once cool, loosely cover and keep at room temperature. To serve, reheat in an oven preheated to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5 for 10min.