FRIED STUFFED OLIVES These cunning little savoury confections surprise and delight with the first bite. You’re not really sure what to expect, but the double hit of saltiness from the olive and then the anchovy tends to wake up the taste buds and sharpen the appetite. They’re as sophisticated a cocktail snack as any I know and never fail to impress. For twenty olives: 10 brown anchovy fillets, drained 5 sage leaves 1 garlic clove Juice of ½ lemon Black pepper 1 handful of grated Parmesan 20 large Italian ‘queen’ green olives, pitted 3 medium free-range egg whites Italian 00 flour for coating Panko breadcrumbs (you can buy these in oriental supermarkets) 1 litre vegetable oil Chop the anchovies, sage and garlic as finely as possible and then, using a pestle and mortar (or in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin), turn into a paste, adding the lemon juice a few drops at a time. Mix in a pinch of black pepper and the Parmesan. Stuff the olives by using a disposable piping bag to squirt your mixture into the hole left from pitting the olives. Dip into the egg white, then the flour, and then the breadcrumbs. Half fill a deep pan with the vegetable oil and bring the temperature up to 190°C (or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil turns golden in less than a minute). Deep-fry the coated olives in the oil for 2–3 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.
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