Olives crushed in the Sicilian style, easy to find if you have two trees in the garden, otherwise you buy them from the trusted greengrocer under the house. 
. As you can see from the photo, I have two trees in the garden that this year, to my great surprise, have given me so much satisfaction! Twelve kilos of satisfaction. Digging through the drawers of my memory and with the precious advice and recipes from my three sisters and some Sicilian friends, I organized myself to preserve some for the winter. I remember my mom used to prepare them, very easy, at least for her it was really easy to make Sicilian crushed olives. She added carrots and celery and I’ll do the same.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 7 Days
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian Regional
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
- Energy 601.28 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 6.97 (g) of which sugars 1.37 (g)
- Proteins 1.52 (g)
- Fat 65.87 (g) of which saturated 9.22 (g)of which unsaturated 15.81 (g)
- Fibers 4.69 (g)
- Sodium 11,647.30 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 125 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 to prepare crushed olives
- 2.2 lbs green olives
- 7.05 oz salt
- 1.7 cups extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 hot chili pepper (to taste)
- 2.1 cups white wine vinegar
Tools
- Bowl
- Rolling Pin
- 2 Jars 150 g glass
Preparation
Clearly, if you don’t have an olive tree in your garden, it means you’ll buy them to prepare crushed olives.
You can crush the olives using a hammer, the old-fashioned way, or with a stone, but always one olive at a time and with a lot of patience.
You can remove the pit later if you prefer. Immediately put the freshly crushed olives in water in a large bowl. Change the water twice a day, morning and evening. As you do this, you’ll notice the water getting clearer, which means all the bitterness of the olives is going away and they are ready to be seasoned.
The crushed olives are ready, remove the pits, and for the last soak in water, add enough salt to make them savory, and let it sit overnight.
Taste them to see if they are salty enough, then do the final rinse with vinegar and let them dry well. You can use a small press but don’t overdo it. This is an important and delicate phase that, if not done well, could compromise the entire process.
In a bowl, cut the celery and carrot into pieces (washed and dried well, of course). Chop the garlic and crumble the dried oregano. If you like, you can also add the hot chili pepper. Mix the seasoning and add half the oil and all the dry crushed olives. Pour into the jars with the addition of more oil until the olives are completely covered.
Here they are, the Sicilian Crushed Olives that you can enjoy immediately or leave in the pantry for a couple of months.
Place the crushed and seasoned olives in jars, alternating with oil.
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ALTERNATIVES
My alternative is to freeze the crushed olives ready to be seasoned and consumed. Freeze in airtight plastic containers. With this system, you just need to defrost them at least two hours before and dry them well. Season them with the same ingredients.
Are there alternatives for preserving Sicilian crushed olives?
Yes, there is an alternative that I often use when I prepare a lot of crushed olives. Without putting them in oil, when they are well dried, I freeze them in 400-gram bags. When needed, I defrost them two hours before and season them to taste before consuming.
