The following recipe and excerpt for spicy dirty martini olives are from “Happy Hour at Home“ by Elizabeth Van Lierde. It’s available for order on Amazon.
One of my VIP snacks, these goat cheese–stuffed olives are marinated in a citrusy mixture that is equally savory and spicy. They are the kind of bite that you would be elated to find in a small crystal bowl on top of any hotel bar. Snack on them or skewer them onto a cocktail pick for tipping into a dirty martini.
Spicy Dirty Martini Olives
Ingredients
Instructions
- Put the goat cheese into a small bowl and drizzle the gin over the cheese. Using a fork or the back of a spoon, smash the cheese to a creamy paste. Transfer to a resealable bag, secure the bag closed, and snip off a lower corner.
- Pipe the goat cheese mixture into each olive, adding the olives to a medium bowl as you work.
- Add the orange zest, lemon zest and juice, pepper flakes, garlic, rosemary, and Gouda cubes to the bowl with the olives. Drizzle with the olive oil, adding just enough to coat the olives and cheese cubes lightly, then toss gently but thoroughly until well coated.
- If serving the olives as a snack, accompany them with your favorite crackers or bread slices. If using the olives for garnishing dirty martinis, slide an olive — or 3 — onto a cocktail pick and tip the pick into the glass. The olives will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- If you prefer a blue cheese–stuffed olive, just swap out the goat cheese for a wedge of your favorite blue.
Excerpted from Happy Hour at Home: 100 Recipes for Snacking and Sipping with Friends by © 2026 Elizabeth Van Lierde. Published by Weldon Owen, an imprint of Insight Editions. Photography by Abagail Halstead.