“I’m giving you a decent-sized recipe here because this recipe isn’t hard, just a bit fiddly,” says Shannon Martinez. “So, my theory is if I’m going to go to the trouble of setting up a crumbing station and getting out a piping (pastry) bag, I may as well go to town and make a batch. The bonus is they freeze well, so future you will love you for it. Use whatever cheese you love and can get hold of for these – you don’t even need to stuff them with cheese. They can be stuffed with seasoned, vegan ground beef, Sun-dried tomatoes, pesto – the options are endless. The version in this recipe is the one I serve at my venues. Now, you can replicate them at home.”
300g vegan feta cheese
100g vegan cream cheese
juice of ½ lemon
50 large green pitted olives (approx. 350g)
150g (1 cup) plain flour
250ml (1 cup) soy milk
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
300g (3 cups) fine breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Crumble the feta into the bowl of a stand mixer, then add the cream cheese, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Beat with the paddle attachment until well combined and smooth.
The easiest way to stuff the olives is with a piping (pastry) bag. But if you don’t have one, you can fill a resealable bag and cut off one of the corners. And if you don’t have resealable bags, prepare to get messy and just stuff it in with your fingers. (Very clean fingers, obviously.) Pipe (or stuff) the filling into the olives.
Set up your crumbing station. You’ll need three bowls or deep plates. In the first bowl, add the flour and mix in a little salt and pepper. In the second bowl mix together the soy milk and vinegar. Stir and allow to thicken for a few minutes. To the third bowl, add your breadcrumbs.
To crumb the olives, work in batches of five at a time. First, dust the olives in the flour, then dip into the soy-milk mixture and finish with a solid coating of breadcrumbs.
Once you’ve crumbed all the olives, refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the cheese to firm up and the coating to set.
Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a large saucepan until it reaches 160˚C.
Gently drop some of the olives into the oil and fry until golden brown. Be sure not to crowd the pan as this will drop the temperature of the oil and make the final product soggy and oily.
As they become golden, remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Continue until all the olives have been fried. If you’re a salt fiend like me, add some salt flakes to finish.
Vegan Italian Food by Shannon Martinez (Hardie Grant, RRP $45) is out now and available at excellent independent Victorian bookshops, such as Readings, Hill of Content, Paperback Bookshop and Books for Cooks.