Muffuletta

I love New Orleans Cajun-Creole cooking – especially when it’s cooked slow all day accompanied by zydeco music. Thyme laden Jambalaya. Thick File Gumbo. Cayenne infused Red Beans & Rice. I’ve made them all. Now, as we once again swing into Mardi Gras season, it’s time for another great New Orleans classic – the Muffuletta.

Muffuletta is a Lousiana style sandwich whose signature ingredient is an olive salad. The salad (really more of a relish) is slathered all over the bottom slice of bread then covered with assorted deli meats and cheeses.

A traditional Muffuletta sandwich is usually made with Salami, Mortadella and Sweet Capicola (or Gabbagool if you come where I come from). However, these higher ended deli meats can be quite pricey so we’re going to stew the cost down a little by using Virginia Ham and regular Bologna instead of the Capicola and Mortadella. Trust me it will still be awesome because, quite frankly, all you really need is good quality seeded Italian bread and that olive salad.

Ask your deli server to slice everything thin.

Need This
1/4 pound Genoa Salami
1/4 pound large Bologna
1/4 pound Virginia Ham
1/4 pound sliced Provolone
1/4 pound sliced Mozzarella
1 – 16 ounce jar Italian Giardiniera (look in the pickle aisle)
1 – 6 ounce jar of green olives with pimientos
Olive oil
1 round loaf of seeded Italian bread (like a small Panella or Boule)

Do This
Chuck 1-1/2 cups of green olives and 1-1/2 cups of Giardiniera salad into a whirlygig (a food processor).

Pulse intermittently until the olives and Giardiniera are at the consistency of something akin to hot dog relish.

Remove the olive relish into a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over top until you see the oil seeping up the sides of the relish. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.*

To assemble the sandwich: Slice a loaf of bread horizontally across its diameter.

Scoop out some of the bread on the bottom half to create a well (be careful not to go all the way through and puncture the crust.. that would be bad).

Get your olive salad out.

Dollop a couple of heaping tablespoons of the olive salad into that well you dug out of the bread. Smooth it over with a spatula.

Assemble the rest of the sandwich as follows:
4 slices of provolone cheese over the olive salad
4 slices of genoa salami over the provolone
4 slices of the ham over the salami
4 slices of bologna over the ham
4 slices of mozzarella over the bologna

Top with the top slice of bread and press down a little to flatten it.

Now you have a Muffuletta.

Using a long sharp knife quarter the Muffulettas into 4 even wedges.

Serve cold or heat in an oven until the Mooz melts.

Serves 2. My cost approx. $ 5.67 total – about $ 2.84 per serving.

*You can purchase jarred Muffuletta olive salad in your local supermarket – but I don’t recommend it. The jarred olive salads typically use soybean oil instead of olive oil which is nowhere near as good. Store leftover olive salad in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Great in omelets, meatloaf, or slathered all over hot dogs with mustard. GMN