(Olivi ai Finocchio) Olives Marinated with Fennel Seeds & Garlic

I love to take regular ordinary olives and marinate them in olive oil and a few other ingredients to make my very own signature Olive Marinate. In this marinade I crushed fennel seeds and garlic together along with some olive oil after I had read about these wild fennel growers in in the tiny village, Campodimele, Italy who used their wild fennel seeds in olive dishes.This village, Campodiemele,  nestled on a hill between Naples and Rome is  known as The Village of Eternity due to the fact that most of the residents live an average of 95 years.Experts say it's probably due to genetics mixed with their hyper Mediterranean diet which happens to contain an abundance of olives and olive oil! These olives had a very unique flavor that tasted of the hills of Italy that I remember zooming past on my short road trip from Rome to Naples.I would ask my Zio to please stop and allow us to visit one of the tiny villages built up on the hills like I could have only imagined in fairy tales but he would just wave his hand and say that nothing was there worth seeing, next time I will stop off in one of those tiny villages. Marinated olives are best if you make them 12 hours or at best a whole day ahead allowing the olives to really pick up the wonderful flavors.

Campodimele rises up out of the hills like magic!

Ingredients
1 cup Olives drained and dried
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 small garlic clove
olive oil (enough to cover)
Directions
Crush your seeds along with the garlic but do not bother chopping since you want to eventually remove the garlic.
In a shallow bowl (the shallower the bowl less oil you need) place your very dry olives along with the fennel and garlic. Now pour on enough oil to coat and toss a few times.
Cover and leave in fridge for at least 12 hours.
Bring to room temp before serving as an antipasto or snack.
These will keep for a few weeks n the fridge.