Dried Black Olives from Messina, or “Alivi mpassuluti”.
This is a typical recipe from our land, served as a starter or appetizer, usually accompanied by various cured meats and cheeses, especially Sant’Angelo salami and fresh pecorino pepato-.
They are seasoned with dried oregano, garlic, salt, oil, and for those who like it, some fresh chili pepper.
The olives we need are those that have fallen from the trees, never picked directly, and are naturally sweetened because nature, with natural drying, brings them to maturity, ready to be consumed after a brief treatment in boiling water.
Dried Black Olives from Messina or “alivi mpassuluti”
They are not to be confused with oven-baked olives, as we will skip that step.
I present them as my great-grandmother from Panarea did: she collected them on the terraces of the island, brought them home, and after careful sorting, divided them between green and dried ones.
The green ones were used for making oil, or she put them in brine or prepared them crushed.
You can find dried olives at greengrocer’s shops or market stalls.
Now let’s prepare this specialty.
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- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
- Energy 89.53 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 3.21 (g) of which sugars 0.05 (g)
- Proteins 0.45 (g)
- Fat 9.07 (g) of which saturated 1.59 (g)of which unsaturated 3.33 (g)
- Fibers 1.07 (g)
- Sodium 333.07 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 60 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 1.1 lbs black olives (dried)
- 3 cloves garlic (large)
- 2 tbsps dried oregano
- to taste fresh chili pepper (optional)
- 8.5 cups water
- 1 tbsp salt
- 3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
a glance at health
Tools
What we need to make
- 1 Pot
- 1 Colander
- 1 Dish towel
- 1 Knife
- 1 Bowl
Steps
To prepare
as I mentioned above, they need to be truly dried, the skin should be slightly wrinkled, without imperfections or rotten spots
Wash the olives very well to remove any dirt or soil, then fill a pot with water and put it on the stove, add a pinch of salt as if you were making pasta, I tell you this term to adjust with the subjective amount of salt you normally use
Bring the pot to a boil, then immerse the olives
and boil them for about 3 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave them in water until it has cooled. This serves to rehydrate them.
Then drain them
Transfer the olives to a dish towel and dry them well.
Transfer them to a bowl and season with a drizzle of oil, oregano, salt, and 3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped. If you like, you can add some chopped fresh chili pepper.
Mix well and let them rest in the seasoning for at least a day, outside the fridge.
Now the Dried Black Olives from Messina are ready to be enjoyed.
Dried Black Olives from Messina,
Store the dried black olives in a glass jar in the fridge for up to one month.
If you want to extend the preservation, I recommend freezing them in small quantities for up to 6 months.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Dried Black Olives from Messina
Is chili pepper mandatory?
No, it’s up to your taste.
