It’s time to prepare Sicilian seasoned olives or crushed green olives, a typical Sicilian side dish.

Fresh green olives are harvested in the fall, and today I will show you step by step how to prepare them using the method my mother, a master of traditional recipes, utilizes.

First, get some fresh green olives: if you can’t pick them directly, you’ll easily find them at the market.
Next, the olives should be crushed and – if desired – pitted, then sweetened – meaning rid of their bitter taste – and finally seasoned.

– Sun-dried Tomatoes or 'Nciappati | Traditional Sicilian Recipe.

Crushed Green Olives | Sicilian Recipe Step by Step Preparation

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economical
Preparation time: 10 Days
Cooking methods: No cooking
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

green olives (fresh)
as needed water
as needed salt
as needed garlic (cloves)
as needed red chili pepper
as needed oregano
as needed wild fennel seeds
as needed mint (leaves)
as needed white wine vinegar
as needed extra virgin olive oil (raw)

Suggested Tools

Meat tenderizer or mortar pestle

Preparation

Fresh green olives are harvested in autumn.
First, get some fresh green olives: if you can’t pick them directly, you’ll easily find them at the market.
Traditionally, olives were crushed with a hammer.
You can use a meat tenderizer or the pestle of a mortar, being careful not to crush the pit.
If you prefer, you can remove the stem and pit them.
Remove the stem if you wish to prepare pitted crushed green olives.
Place the crushed olives in a bowl or a glass container and cover them completely with water.
Change the water 2-3 times a day.
After about ten days, when the crushed olives have taken on a uniform dark color, taste one to check if they have lost their bitterness.
Once the crushed olives have lost all their bitter taste, rinse them.
Place the crushed olives in a colander, add enough salt, and mix them.
Transfer the salted crushed olives to a bowl and let them rest for 2-3 hours, then taste to adjust the saltiness and, if needed, add another pinch of salt.
Season the crushed green olives with:
– garlic cloves – amount to taste;
– red chili pepper;
– oregano;
– wild fennel seeds;
– mint leaves;
– white wine vinegar;
– extra virgin olive oil.
You can personalize your Sicilian seasoned olives by adding carrots, celery, bell peppers, etc.
Your Sicilian seasoned olives or crushed green olives are ready!
Great to serve with cheese and cured meat boards, bread and wine, or simply to enrich tomato salads.