Black Olives In Brine

Black olives in brine or olives in brine are a very tasty and interesting traditional preparation. If you have any olive trees you can prepare plenty of them and keep the pots for months to come. Or, give them to friends and relatives for Christmas. Pickled olives are very versatile: you can use them to create simple aperitifs or even to prepare more complex and tasty dishes. They are excellent on pizza, focaccia, cooked vegetables, but also in chicken cacciatore or in other stewed preparations.

Choose well-ripened olives, wash them in running water, prick them with a needle or cut them with a knife and leave them to soak for 4 days in cold water to lose their bitter taste. from which you will let a trickle of water flow uninterruptedly. Drain the olives and arrange them in a large jar alternating them with layers of salt; let it rest for 24 hours and then add the water in the proportion of 1 liter / 1000 g of olives. Let them rest for a month and a half and only then can you pour them into small jars, taking care to add a brine (20 g of salt per liter) previously boiled and cooled. Remove any foam that may form on the surface of the brine with a skimmer.