Mia sorella prepara una torta salata con ricotta e olive nere.

In Italian, singular family members usually take a possessive without the article.

So you normally say:

• mia sorella = my sister
• mio fratello = my brother
• mia madre = my mother

But there are some exceptions, such as when the family noun is modified:

• la mia sorella maggiore = my older sister

So in this sentence, mia sorella is the normal form.

Prepara is the third-person singular form of preparare = to prepare / to make.

The subject is mia sorella, which is she, so the verb must match:

• io preparo = I prepare
• tu prepari = you prepare
• lei prepara = she prepares

So mia sorella prepara means my sister prepares / makes.

Italian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

So instead of saying:

• Lei prepara una torta salata

Italian very naturally says:

• Prepara una torta salata

In your sentence, the subject noun mia sorella is already present, so adding lei would be unnecessary.

Una is the feminine singular form of the indefinite article, meaning a or an.

It is used because torta is a feminine singular noun.

Compare:

• un libro = a book
• una torta = a cake / a pie

So una torta salata means a savory pie/tart.

In Italian, adjectives often come after the noun, especially when they describe a basic quality or category.

So:

• torta salata = savory pie/tart
• olive nere = black olives

This is more natural than putting the adjective first. While some adjectives can come before the noun, color adjectives and many descriptive adjectives usually come after it.

Because it agrees with torta, which is feminine singular.

The adjective must match the noun in gender and number:

• torta salata = feminine singular
• panino salato = masculine singular
• torte salate = feminine plural
• panini salati = masculine plural

So salata matches torta.

For the same reason: adjective agreement.

• olive is feminine plural
• so the adjective nere must also be feminine plural

Compare:

• oliva nera = black olive
• olive nere = black olives
• vino nero would not work here because vino is masculine, so the form changes with the noun

In Italian, colors usually come after the noun and agree with it.

After con (with), Italian often omits the article when talking about ingredients in a general way.

So:

• con ricotta e olive nere = with ricotta and black olives

This is very natural in recipes or food descriptions.

You could sometimes find an article in other contexts, but here leaving it out sounds perfectly normal because the sentence is naming ingredients, not pointing to specific ricotta or specific olives already known in the conversation.

Con means with.

In this sentence, it introduces the ingredients used in the dish:

• con ricotta = with ricotta
• e olive nere = and black olives

So con connects the tart/pie to what it contains.

Not exactly. Even though torta can mean cake, torta salata is a fixed expression meaning a savory tart, savory pie, or similar baked dish.

So learners should not interpret it word-for-word as just salty cake. In food vocabulary, torta salata refers to a specific kind of savory dish.

E is the normal Italian word for and.

So:

• ricotta e olive nere = ricotta and black olives

A useful pronunciation note: e is pronounced like eh, not like the English letter name ee.

It can do both, depending on context.

Mia sorella prepara una torta salata... can mean:

• she is preparing/making one now, or
• she makes/prepares this kind of dish generally

Italian present tense often covers both simple present and some uses that English might express differently. Context tells you which meaning is intended.