Niçoise Fried Olives

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1/4 cup ricotta cheese, room temperature
• 2 ounces chèvre, room temperature
• The leaves from 3 stems thyme
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Perrier or seltzer water
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 40 Nicoise olives, pitted
• 40 large green olives, pitted
• Fleur de sel and lemon wedges for serving

Directions

1. Pour vegetable oil into a cast iron skillet until it reaches a depth of at least 1 inch. Set it over medium heat and warm the oil to 350 degrees F.
2. While the oil heats, prepare the filling. Stir the ricotta, chevre, thyme, and lemon zest together until combined, then add a light touch of salt and pepper.
3. For the batter, whisk the flour, Perrier, baking powder, and salt until smooth.
4. Coat the black olives in the batter, then fry them in batches. They should turn puffy and golden in 30 to 60 seconds.
5. While those cook, place a pastry tip in a baggie and spoon in the ricotta mixture. Fill the green olives with a small amount of stuffing, then batter them the same way you did the black olives and fry for 60 to 90 seconds.
6. Transfer all the fried olives to paper towel to drain. Finish with fleur de sel or sea salt, and serve them with lemon wedges for squeezing.