{"id":2867,"date":"2010-01-08T09:41:56","date_gmt":"2010-01-08T15:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/?p=2867"},"modified":"2010-01-08T09:41:56","modified_gmt":"2010-01-08T15:41:56","slug":"manchego-wrapped-olives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hottie-biscotti.com\/blog\/2010\/01\/08\/manchego-wrapped-olives\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchego Wrapped Olives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olives.\u00a0\u00a0A lot of people either love them or hate them. \u00a0I am not in either group. \u00a0I like them in certain dishes, but not others. \u00a0I like some kinds of olives, but not others. \u00a0I like some raw, and others I prefer to be baked on a pizza. \u00a0I am a mystery. \u00a0There is just no predicting which olive will please me, and which will cause me to turn up my nose in disgust.<\/p>\n

With that little preface you are wondering, “Why did she even try this recipe?” \u00a0Well, I knew I had some olives that needed to be used, and I needed\u00a0a snack that would be\u00a0relatively easy and quick. \u00a0I found this recipe for olives wrapped in a cheesy dough and then baked on Allrecipes.com. \u00a0I have tried my hand at deep frying, and while it does create delicious, crunchy and greasy food, it makes my house smell and dealing with that oil is a pain. \u00a0So the baking aspect appealed to me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I switched the cheddar cheese out for Manchego, added more seasoning to the dough, and used two kinds of stuffed olives: green olives stuffed with garlic and green olives stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes. \u00a0As I was writing out a shopping list I had a thought.\u00a0Is it Ben who is not a huge fan of olives?\u00a0 I sent him a text about what I was planning for dinner\u00a0to find out.\u00a0\u00a0His response was “Sounds great!” \u00a0He is such a sweet man. \u00a0Turns out he is in fact not <\/em>a huge fan of olives. \u00a0But, get this…he actually LIKED them! \u00a0I guess if you wrap anything in a dough of butter, flour, Manchego cheese and paprika you can expect people to be pleased.<\/p>\n

I liked these little\u00a0bites of crispy, buttery cheesiness wrapped around the salty olive.\u00a0 The only issue I faced in the preparation was getting the dough to come together.\u00a0 It seemed way too crumbly.\u00a0\u00a0If you\u00a0just keep working, then\u00a0it will become the smooth consistency you need to wrap the olives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Preparing these\u00a0is a little time consuming\u00a0since you must\u00a0wrap each olive individually, but you can definitely\u00a0wrap them ahead of time, chill them in the fridge, then bake them a half hour before you plan to serve them.\u00a0 Since these were good even at room temperature they would be a great party food.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Manchego Wrapped Olives<\/h5>\n

Adapted from Allrecipes.com<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/h6>\n
    \n
  • 1\/2 pound Manchego cheese, shredded<\/li>\n
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened<\/li>\n
  • 1\/2 teaspoon paprika<\/li>\n
  • 1\/4 teaspoon black pepper<\/li>\n
  • 2\/3 cup all-purpose flour<\/li>\n
  • 20 green olives, pitted, or stuffed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    Directions<\/h6>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    1.<\/strong><\/td>\nAllow cheese to sit out until it is at room temperature. In a large bowl, mix together the cheese, butter and paprika using a pastry blender. Gradually mix in flour, first using the pastry blender, then using your hands. Mix until the dough pulls together. It should form a solid ball with a smooth appearance, but have a crumbly texture when pulled apart. If dough appears too dry, add more shredded cheese.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2.<\/strong><\/td>\nPreheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pinch off a small piece of dough, and cover an olive with it. Roll gently between your palms to smooth and seal the olive inside the ball. Place onto an un-greased cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough and olives. Place the tray of covered olives into the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    3.<\/strong><\/td>\nBake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Photo courtesy of Bettycrocker.com<\/pre>\n