Sausage & Cheese-Stuffed Fried Olives

Combine the sausage, cheese, garlic, pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Mix with your hands until evenly combined. Cut each olive lengthwise down one side, leaving the other side intact. Gently open each olive along the cut and stuff with about ¼ teaspoon of the sausage mixture.

Place the egg, flour, and breadcrumbs in three separate medium bowls. Designate one hand to work with the flour and breadcrumbs as your “dry” hand and the other hand to work in your egg mixture as your “wet” hand. (Keeps things from getting too messy!) Working with a few olives at a time, roll in the flour, then dip in the egg, and then roll to completely coat in the breadcrumbs. Transfer to a large plate and let stand for 10 minutes. Repeat the breading process a second time for a double coat—this makes for extra-crispy olives! 

Heat ½ inch of oil in a large sauté pan or wok (preferably stainless steel) over medium until it reaches 350°F. (You can test by throwing a breadcrumb in and seeing if it sizzles.) Fry the olives in batches, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and the sausage is cooked through, 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined tray to drain and sprinkle with salt to taste. Serve hot with your favorite marinara sauce (warmed up separately) for dipping.