Theoretically, beef olives should be braised so they become really tender but they are also excellent when baked in a sauce; see our recipe for Italian braised beef olives. Browning beef olives first adds flavour and colour to the dish; just cook in a drop of hot oil for a few minutes on either side.

You can cook beef olives without a sauce if you wish and serve with mash and onion gravy for instance. After browning pop them in a shallow dish add a drop of water and cover tightly with foil. Cook in a moderately hot oven (180C/Gas 4) for about half an hour or until the sausage meat is cooked through.

You could also pan-fry them turning down the heat and covering with a lid once browned. Often confused with saute pan-frying is also not to be confused with shallow frying. Pan-frying involves larger pieces of meat say a steak or chicken breast a very small amount of oil and not too much movement. Essentially it has replaced the overhead grill and is a far moister way of cooking meat.