Name: Olive all'ascolana
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian (Marche)
Ingredients: 150 g mature beef, in chunks (40–70% of the meat); 120 g pork, in chunks (30–50% of the meat); 30 g chicken or turkey (optional — no more than 10% of the meat); 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and/or lard; 1 onion, carrot and celery stalk, chopped; 100 ml dry white wine; 2 eggs (2–4 per kg of filling); 60 g aged hard cheese, grated (such as Parmigiano Reggiano) (at least 100 g per kg of filling); nutmeg and salt (to taste); grated lemon zest, cloves, pepper or a little tomato sauce (optional, in small amounts); 60 large Ascolana Tenera green olives in brine; 2 eggs, beaten; wheat flour and fine breadcrumbs (enough for a light coating); oil for frying

La provenienza

Where this recipe comes from

The Ascolana Tenera olive is big, mild and tender. Its PDO, registered by the European Union in 2005, covers both the olives in brine and the stuffed olive, and it is the stuffing that the specification describes in detail: mature beef and pork from the production area, with a little chicken or turkey allowed, cooked with the classic soffritto and white wine, then bound with egg and aged cheese.

Tradition places the meat stuffing in the nineteenth century, in the kitchens of Ascoli's noble families. Today a kilo of PDO stuffed olives holds between 60 and 95 olives; the minimum was lowered from 65 in the 2025 amendment, so that the largest olives can still be used.

Provenance: EU-codifiedThe dish itself is protected by an EU specification (TSG, PDO or PGI) that fixes how it is made.
Defined by: European Union
Reference: PDO ‘Oliva Ascolana del Piceno’ — Regulation (EC) No 1855/2005; specification amended in 2025, 2005
Sources: EU Official Journal C/2025/1722 — amendment to the ‘Oliva Ascolana del Piceno’ PDO specification, with the current single document (EUR-Lex)
PDO ‘Oliva Ascolana del Piceno’ — production specification, Article 6 on the stuffed olive (Disciplinare.it, Italian)

Ascoli Piceno, Marche

Errori comuni

Common mistakes

Making the filling with equal parts of beef, pork and chicken: the specification asks mostly for beef and pork, with chicken or turkey at no more than 10%.
Using small or firm olives — they cannot be cut and wrapped around the filling.
A thick, heavy crust: the specification asks for a light coating.

Fuori dall'Italia

Cooking it outside Italy

Large green olives such as Castelvetrano can stand in for Ascolana Tenera — the result is olives ‘all'ascolana’ in style, not the PDO product.
Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano both count as aged grated cheese if Parmigiano is hard to find.

Olive all'ascolana

Where this recipe comes from

Ingredients

For the filling

To finish

Method

Common mistakes

Cooking it outside Italy

More antipastistarters from other regions