Prima di cena, condisco la mozzarella con olio e basilico.

In Italian, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• condisco = I season / I dress
• The ending -o tells you it is first person singular.

So (io) condisco is possible, but io is usually left out unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Literally, prima di cena means before dinner.

The pattern is:

• prima di + noun = before + noun
• prima di partire = before leaving
• prima della cena can also exist, but it usually sounds more like before the dinner / before that specific dinner

In your sentence, prima di cena is the natural general way to say before dinner.

The comma separates an introductory time phrase from the main clause:

• Prima di cena, = Before dinner,
• condisco la mozzarella... = I season the mozzarella...

This is very similar to English punctuation. The comma is common and natural here, though in some short sentences Italian punctuation can be a little flexible.

Condisco comes from condire, which means to season, to dress, or to flavor food.

It is an -ire verb that uses -isc- in some forms:

• io condisco = I season
• tu condisci = you season
• lui/lei condisce = he/she seasons
• noi condiamo = we season
• voi condite = you all season
• loro condiscono = they season

Many Italian -ire verbs behave like this, for example:

• capire → capisco
• finire → finisco

So condisco is normal, even if it looks unusual at first.

Italian uses the definite article more often than English.

Here, la mozzarella can mean:

• a specific mozzarella
• mozzarella as the food being prepared

Italian often prefers the article where English might not use one. So condisco la mozzarella sounds natural.

If you said just condisco mozzarella, it would sound incomplete or unnatural in most contexts.

In Italian, when listing ingredients or substances after con, the article is often omitted.

So:

• con olio e basilico = with oil and basil

This is very natural when you mean the ingredients in a general sense.

You could sometimes hear forms with articles in other contexts, but here the zero article is the most natural choice.

Here condire means something like:

• to season
• to dress
• to add oil, herbs, salt, etc. to food

With food like mozzarella, salad, tomatoes, or pasta, condire often means adding seasoning or dressing ingredients.

So condisco la mozzarella con olio e basilico is like saying:

• I dress the mozzarella with oil and basil
• I season the mozzarella with oil and basil

Both are good translations depending on context.

Con means with and introduces the ingredients used to season the food.

So:

• condire qualcosa con... = to season/dress something with...

Examples:

• Condisco l’insalata con olio e sale.
• Condisco la pasta con il sugo.

It is the normal preposition for this structure.

Yes, condisco is present tense.

In Italian, the present tense can cover both meanings depending on context:

• I season
• I am seasoning

So this sentence could describe:

• a habitual action: Before dinner, I season the mozzarella with oil and basil
• an action happening now: Before dinner, I’m seasoning the mozzarella with oil and basil

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

Yes. Italian word order is flexible, although some versions sound more natural in certain contexts.

Your sentence:

• Prima di cena, condisco la mozzarella con olio e basilico.

Another natural version:

• Condisco la mozzarella con olio e basilico prima di cena.

The first version emphasizes when the action happens right away.
The second gives the time information later.

Both are correct.

Because prima normally combines with di:

• prima di cena = before dinner
• prima di pranzo = before lunch

By contrast, a cena means at dinner / for dinner, not before dinner.

Compare:

• Prima di cena = before dinner
• A cena = at dinner / for dinner

So in this sentence, di is required by prima.

Here it means basil as an ingredient in general.

When talking about ingredients, Italian often uses the noun without an article:

• con basilico
• con olio
• con sale

This does not usually mean one specific basil leaf or a specially identified basil. It just means the ingredient basil.

It can be understood in either of two close ways:

1. A specific mozzarella you are preparing

   • for example, the mozzarella on the table

2. Mozzarella as the dish/food item in this situation

Italian often uses the definite article this way. So la mozzarella does not always mean a very strictly identified object in the way English the mozzarella might suggest.

A rough guide:

• Prima di cena: PREE-ma dee CHEH-na
• condisco: kon-DEE-sko
• mozzarella: mot-tsa-REL-la
• olio: OH-lyo
• basilico: ba-ZEE-lee-ko

A couple of useful notes:

• c before e in cena sounds like ch in church
• zz in mozzarella is a strong ts/tts sound
• gli is not in this sentence, but olio has li + o, pronounced smoothly as lyo

Yes, it sounds natural. It is a simple, realistic way to describe seasoning mozzarella.

Italian sentences like this often mention only the relevant ingredients. You could expand it, of course:

• con olio, basilico e un po’ di sale
• con olio extravergine e basilico fresco

But con olio e basilico is already perfectly normal and idiomatic.