Ameilia's Italian Stuffed Olives

Ingredients

• Servings: 100
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 thick cut bone-in lamb chops
• 1 whole skinless, bone-in chicken breast
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can tomato puree
• 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 3 (8 ounce) jars colossal green olives, with pits
• 3 eggs, divided and beaten
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 lemon, zested
• flour for dredging
• bread crumbs
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Recipe

Cook Time: 2 hrs 20 mins

Ready Time: 3 hrs 20 mins


• heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. cook and stir celery, onion, and garlic in hot oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. add lamb and chicken and cook for 7 to 10 minutes. combine tomato puree and tomato paste with 1 cup water, and add to meat mixture. reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours, or until lamb and chicken are falling off the bone. remove meat from the pot to cool, and set sauce aside.
• meanwhile, remove olive pits using a special olive pitting tool. make a slit in one side of each olive large enough to insert stuffing.
• once cooled, remove lamb and chicken meat from the bones, and mince. mix together with 2 beaten eggs, parmesan cheese, ground nutmeg, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup of reserved sauce. use more or less sauce as needed so that meat mixture is moist, but not too wet.
• fill each olive with enough stuffing so that a small amount is pushing out of the slit. dip each stuffed olive in flour, then beaten egg, then bread crumbs. stuffed olives may be frozen in an air-tight container at this point until ready to use.
• heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees f (190 degrees c).
• fry olives in hot oil for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown on the outside. serve warm.