The Method
Prepare and Dry the Olives
10 mins
Drain your jar of colossal olives and rinse them under cold water to wash away excess surface brine. Place the olives onto a clean kitchen towel or layers of paper towels. Pat them completely dry. Note: If the olives are wet, the meat filling will slip right out during cooking.
Mix the Savory Beef Filling
5 mins
In a small mixing bowl, combine the raw lean ground beef, minced onion, grated garlic, chopped parsley, grated Parmesan, cumin, salt, and pepper. Use your hands or a fork to mix the ingredients thoroughly until a smooth, uniform paste forms.
To get the meat inside the olive cleanly, transfer the beef mixture into a pastry bag or a heavy-duty ziplock bag with a tiny corner snipped off. Alternatively, you can use a small espresso spoon or your fingers. Gently widen the pitted opening of an olive, insert the tip of your piping bag, and squeeze the beef mixture inside until it gently plumps the olive and peeks out of the top. Repeat for all olives.
Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of high-quality olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Carefully drop the stuffed olives into the hot pan. Sear them for about 4 to 5 minutes, rolling them around frequently so the olives get beautifully blistered and the beef sticking out of the ends cooks through completely.
The Tapas Variation: Want to take these a step further? Turn them into Aceitunas Fritas (Fried Stuffed Olives). After stuffing the olives with the raw beef mixture, roll each olive in a tiny bit of all-purpose flour, dip it into a beaten egg, and coat it thoroughly in seasoned Panko breadcrumbs. Shallow-fry them in hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes until shatteringly crisp and golden brown.
Serving Suggestions
Transfer the warm, seared beef stuffed olives to a shallow serving dish and drizzle them with a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to cut through the richness. Provide toothpicks for easy grabbing. They pair spectacularly well with crisp white wines, dry vermouth, or a classic dirty martini, proving that big flavor truly does come in tiny packages.
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