3 months ago
21
Yes, these snacks are a touch fiddly to assemble, but embrace the simple, repetitive prep – it’s practically therapy. The payoff? A salty, meaty, creamy bomb of pure deliciousness that will disappear instantly.
You need to treat the mortadella like you’re rolling a perfect, tight cigarette back in your student days. Use steady hands and a firm, tight roll. This improves the structural integrity, making it easier to slice and ensuring it holds its shape when you stuff it into the olives.
Don’t bother with those sad, pre-pitted jars from the supermarket. Seek out your local Greek grocer – the one with the ginormous tubs and the slightly haphazard scooping technique. For reasons science can’t explain, their olives always seem to have a much more generous, clean pit removal. This little olive miracle will save your patience and ensure the morty-D slides right in.
Ingredients
100g thinly sliced mortadella
about 2 cups pitted green olives
zest of ½ a lemon, to serve
finely chopped chives, to serve
olive oil, to serve
DIRTY MARTINI DIP
zest of 1 lemon
200ml tub creme fraiche
¼ cup pickling liquid from a jar of pickles
30g blue cheese
3 tbsp roughly chopped chives
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
Method
Step 1
Add the dirty martini dip ingredients to a blender and blitz to combine. If it seems runny and not scoopable, keep blending – it will thicken to a perfect schmear-like consistency. Season generously with sea salt flakes and black pepper. Set aside while you prepare the olives.
Step 2
Roll the mortadella slices firmly, then cut them into slices about 5mm wide. Stuff each olive with one of the slices. It’s not meant to be pretty and perfect – you want the mortadella to sprout from the centre of the olive like a salty, meaty flower. Repeat with the remaining mortadella and olives.
Step 3
To assemble, schmear the dirty martini dip artfully across a serving tray in a generous layer. Line up the olives like perfectly drilled soldiers, nestling them into the dip with the mortadella end facing up. Season generously with sea salt flakes, lemon zest and chopped chives. Drizzle some olive oil over it and serve.
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