Marinated Apéro Olives

A little spicy and full of flavor from garlic, lemon zest and herbs, these marinated apéro olives are perfect for serving with cocktails, beer and wine.

If you read my post from last Sunday, you saw the inspiration for this recipe in the photo of our shopping when we were in France last month. My husband chose some mixed marinated olives at a local market because when you are in France, you have to have l’apéro, short for l'apéritif - an aperitif, a drink that is meant to spark the appetite - in the evening. 

L'apéro is a daily tradition there and includes getting together for drinks and nibbles with friends and family to unwind at the end of each day, usually taking place between 5-7 p.m. The supermarkets all have generous sections devoted to l’apéro, with cold cuts, sausages, crackers, cheese cubes, olives, pickles and other snacky food. One of my favorite areas of some of the best supermarkets in the world.

Marinated Apéro Olives

I’ve given the amounts of olives I used for this below but you can certainly mix and match more than one type of green and black olives. Use your favorites. My one strong recommendation is to use unpitted olives. They always taste better than already pitted ones. Simply set out a small bowl for the discarded pits when serving.

Ingredients 

1 lb or 450g good quality unpitted green olives 

8 oz or 225g good quality unpitted black olives

2-3 small chili peppers

3 cloves garlic

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 lemon

1 large chili pepper

½ cup or 120ml good quality extra virgin olive oil

Method

Mince the garlic and the small chili peppers and put them in a bowl that will be large enough for all of the olives.

With a sharp knife, pare the zest off of the lemon, taking care to leave the white pith behind as best you can.

Add it to the bowl. Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze the juice from lemon halves into the bowl.

Strip the leaves off of the rosemary and thyme. Chop them roughly.

Slice the large chili pepper and add it to the bowl along with the herbs. Give it all a good stir.

Gently warm the olive oil to about 100°F or 38°C. Pour it in the bowl and leave to infuse and cool for a few minutes. 

Add in the olives and give the whole thing a good stir. 

Leave to marinate for an hour or two unrefrigerated, then store in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 weeks. I put mine in a container and tossed it around to mix again the next couple of days, when I thought about it. 

Best served at room temperature with drinks of your choice! L'apéro at home! 

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 15th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter O. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the O recipes below:

• Apple Cider Old Fashioned from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• BBQ Deviled Eggs with Crispy Fried Onions from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Gumbo-laya Stew from A Messy Kitchen 
• Marinated Apéro Olives from Food Lust People Love
• Olive Oil-Cured Chevre-Filled Cigarillos from Culinary Cam
• Onion and Olive Oil Focaccia with Sea Salt from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Onion Swirls from Magical Ingredients
• Orange Blueberry Waffles from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Pumpkin Olan from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Rhubarb and Strawberry Baked Oatmeal from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad 

F. Lamb Feta Mint Patties 

G. Ricotta Gnocchi à la Poêle 

H. Hazelnut Vodka 

I. Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers - this post!

J. Jägersuppe - Hunter's Soup 

K. Easy Chicken Kapama 

L. Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast 

M. Miso Chocolate Cookies 

N. Duck Egg Narjissiya 

O. Marinated Apéro Olives - this post!

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Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers

Made with just a few ingredients, these Italian sausage stuffed mini peppers are a quick, easy and delicious appetizer. They will disappear in no time flat, I promise!

I was invited to a get-together a while back and was looking for inspiration in my local grocery store for something to contribute when I came across a marked down bag of mini peppers. They were a lovely mix of bright colors, perfect for a party.

My first idea was just to make a dip and cut them in slices for scooping said dip but then, on the same shopping trip, serendipity sent me Italian sausage on a two for one sale. SOLD! 

Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers

I used hot (spicy) Italian sausage for stuffing the mini peppers but you can substitute mild, if you prefer. 

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g hot Italian sausage

8 oz or 225g mini peppers

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 oz or 28g extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated

Method

Brown the Italian sausage over a medium heat in a nonstick skillet, breaking it up into crumbles as you go. 

Drain on a paper towel. If your crumbles are not small enough for stuffing, you can chop them smaller with a sharp knife. 

Cut the mini peppers in half. I tried to leave the stems intact where I could because I like how they look. They are, of course, not edible. 

Put the peppers in a bowl, drizzle them with the olive oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the salt and toss again to distribute the salt evenly. 

Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C and line a baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone liner. Spread the mini pepper halves on the lined baking pan. 

Spoon the sausage crumbles into the pepper halves. 

Top with the cheese. 

Bake in your preheated oven for 10 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through to make sure they cook evenly. Broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese. 

Serve warm. Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 9th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter I. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the I recipes below:

• Homemade Italian Dressing from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Indo Chinese Idli Fry - Leftover Idlis from Sneha’s Recipe
• Iru Puli Kuzhambu from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers from Food Lust People Love
• Mini Ice Cream Cakes from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Nutella Ice Cream from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Smaller Chocolate Eclair Cake (from scratch) from A Messy Kitchen
• Sun Dried Tomato Italian Dipping Oil for Bread from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad 

F. Lamb Feta Mint Patties 

G. Ricotta Gnocchi à la Poêle 

H. Hazelnut Vodka 

I. Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers - this post!

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.

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Sfincione Siciliano #BreadBakers

Sfincione Siciliano is a staple street food of Sicily, with a fluffy bread base topped with strong cheese and a rich onion anchovy tomato sauce, finished with breadcrumbs, more cheese and oregano.

 

Sfincione is pronounced sfeen-CHOH-neh (IPA: /sfin'tʃoːne/) in Italian. From what I can discern, it’s like if focaccia married cheese pizza with a little nod to Ligurian pissalandrea in the sauce but without the black olives. Yeah, a little mixed up maybe but the Sicilians are on to something! It’s delicious. 

I shared four pieces with my brother- and sister-in-law and when she sent me a thank you text, she called them pizza squares. Perfect name! If you can't say sfincione, just tell your family you are making pizza squares for dinner. 

Sfincione Siciliano 

The traditional cheese for this dish is called Siciliano Caciocavallo but the interwebs assure me that the best substitute is an aged provolone for both taste and texture. This recipe is adapted from one on Tavol Arte Gusto and makes one sfincione in a 12x17 in or 30x43cm pan. Start this recipe early in the day to allow for the three rising sessions. 

Ingredients

For the base:

1 teaspoon dried active yeast

1 ½ cups or 355ml warm water

1 teaspoon sugar

3 cups or 380g 00 Italian flour

2/3 cup or 100g re-milled durum wheat semolina

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little extra for greasing the pan

For the onion sauce:

3 medium-sized onions

2 tablespoons olive oil (use the oil from the anchovies and top up if needed)

2 anchovy fillets in olive oil

1 can (1 lb 12oz or 800g) peeled Italian tomatoes

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

For the toppings:

7 oz or 200g Sicilian Caciocavallo or Provolone Stravecchio

5 – 6 anchovy fillets in oil

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

2-3 sprigs fresh oregano

Method

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, along with the teaspoon of sugar. Within a few minutes, it should start to create bubbles and foam up. This is how you know your yeast has been activated.

Measure your 00 flour, semolina and salt into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, if using. 

Add the yeast dissolved in water, and knead until you’ve created a soft dough. 

Little by little, add the oil—continuing to knead throughout.

The dough should appear smooth and well-developed (forming a cohesive elastic mass.) Finally, shape the dough into a ball.

 Cover the bowl and let the dough to rise for at least 3 hours; it should quadruple in volume.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. First, thinly slice the onions.

 

Place them in a pot with the oil and anchovies. Let them heat through for 5–6 minutes over high heat.

Puree the tomatoes in a blender (or with a hand blender), then add them to the onion pot. 

 

Fill the tomato can up about a quarter with water to make sure you get all of the tomato out and add it to the pot as well. 

Bring to a low boil then the sauce over low heat for about 45 minutes.

The result should be a rich, thick sauce. Add the baking soda and salt and stir well. 

Remove from the heat and set aside and to cool.

Finally, take the risen dough and spread it out in a 12x17 in or 30x43cm baking pan lightly greased with oil. Spread the dough using your fingers, gently tapping it with your fingertips trying your best not to pop any air bubbles.

Add the anchovy fillets broken into bits.

At this point, cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for another hour or so.

Cut most of the cheese into pieces and grate a little, about 3-4 tablespoons. Mix the grated cheese with the breadcrumbs.

After that rise in the pan, add the remaining toppings to the dough: first the pieces of cheese.

Followed by the sauce.

Then finish with the grated cheese/breadcrumbs, and a handful of fresh oregano leaves.

Finally, let it rise for another hour. Near the end of rising time, preheat your oven to 475°F or 246°C.

Bake the sfincione in the hot oven, on the lowest rack or, if possible, in direct contact with the oven floor for 10 minutes. Move the pan to the middle-upper rack, to bake for another 20 minutes or so. The topping should be dry and the base nice and puffy and golden.

Remove from the baking pan. 

Cut in squares to serve. Golden bottom! I was a bit concerned by the dark edges, but the bottom was lovely and crunchy.

So fluffy! 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means it’s time for my Bread Baker group to share their recipes. Our theme this month is Italian bread. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below.

• Cornetti Dolci (Italian Croissants) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Focaccia Bread Art from Making Miracles
• No-Knead Green Chutney Focaccia with Tofu from Cook with Renu
• No Knead Potato Focaccia from Sneha's Recipe
• Overnight Ciabatta from A Messy Kitchen
• Overnight Focaccia from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sfincione Siciliano from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Cherry Tomato Focaccia from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Sprouted Spelt Everything Bagel Crackers

Crunchy, flavorful and more-ish, these sprouted spelt everything bagel crackers are a lovely snack on their own or served with a spread or dip. 

I usually try to bake or cook well ahead of the publish date for Sunday FunDay posts because the hosts plan the theme months in advance. This week, it didn’t happen because I misread the theme! 

“Make a recipe using sprouts,” the title said. Sooooo, I duly bought some Brussels sprouts and got busy. Then just a couple of days ago, I read the whole description which was “Using sprouted grains / legumes.” Oh, no! Back to the drawing board. Fortunately, I already own sprouted spelt flour. 

After the debacle that was trying to get the big cracker off the pan once baked, I wasn’t sure I was even going to share this recipe. But I put the plate between my husband and me on the sofa yesterday and before I knew it, the plate was almost empty! These crackers are good, y’all. Follow my updated method and you’ll love them too! 

Sprouted Spelt Everything Bagel Crackers

This recipe was adapted from one in the New York Times magazine from way back in 2008. That recipe itself was adapted from one created by Eli Winograd at Hungry Ghost Bread in Northampton, MA.

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup or 120ml cold water

1 1/2 cups or 180g sprouted spelt flour

Generous sprinkling everything bagel seasoning mix

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

In the measuring cup, dissolve the salt in the cold water. Add the water to the spelt flour and stir until combined. 

Knead the dough a few turns until a ball forms.

The original instructions said to flour an overturned 12-by-17-inch cookie sheet and use a floured rolling pin to roll out the dough on top of it - using as much flour as needed to prevent sticking - until the dough covers the sheet from edge to edge. Which is what I did. (See below.) I am here to tell you that this is NOT A GOOD PLAN.

Never mind my photo. Here is what you REALLY NEED to do: Roll this dough out on a piece of nonstick baking parchment or a silicone pan liner. Otherwise, as I mentioned, the dough will stick to your pan and you will struggle to release the middle bits once it is baked. 

Using a spray bottle filled with water, spray the rolled dough to give it a glossy finish. If you want neater crackers, you can also score the dough into grids. Otherwise, we are just going to break this sucker apart into chaotic shards once crispy. 

Sprinkle with an elegant sufficiency of everything bagel seasoning mix. Some people prefer more, some less. For once, I won’t tell you how to live your life. 

Bake in the preheated oven until the big cracker is crisp and golden and snaps apart, 20 to 25 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through. Check frequently to make sure it doesn’t overcook and burn. Ovens heat unevenly and these crackers are thin! 

Since you did the right thing and rolled the dough out onto a nonstick sheet of baking parchment or a silicone pan liner, the only thing left is to break into pieces and serve. I promise, the crackers will disappear in no time.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes using sprouted grains or legumes. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha’s Recipe. Check out the links below. 

• Stir-fried Cilantro with Bean Sprouts and Shrimp from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Egg Foo Young from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sprouted Moong Salad from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Sprouted Oat Blender Waffles from A Messy Kitchen
• Sprouted Spelt Everything Bagel Crackers from Food Lust People Love
• Sprouted Vaalachi Bhaji With Fresh Coconut from Sneha’s Recipe
• Vegetarian Ramen Bowls from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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