First made in 1906, the muffuletta sandwich originated in New Orleans. Made with round Sicilian sesame bread that gives the sandwich its name, the muffuletta combines olive salad with cold cuts and cheeses. Sicilian customers to Salvatore Lupo’s Central Grocery often ordered these ingredients separately for their lunches; it was Lupo’s suggestion to put them together in a sandwich. Variations on muffulettas use seafood, including oysters, shrimp, catfish, and softshell crab. Today, the sandwiches are found throughout Louisiana and in sandwich shops around the country. Muffulettas are traditionally served cold or at room temperature.
Recipe Servings: 8
+ 24 hours resting
Ingredients
Olive Salad:
- 1 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, crushed
- ½ cup kalamata olives, drained and crushed
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup pickled cauliflower florets, roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp capers, drained
- 1 Tbsp celery, chopped
- 1 Tbsp carrot, chopped
- ½ cup pepperoncini, drained
- ¼ cup marinated cocktail onions
- ½ tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup canola oil
Assembly:
- 2 loaves (1 lb each) Italian bread
- 8 oz genoa salami, thinly sliced
- 8 oz cooked ham, thinly sliced
- 8 oz mortadella, sliced
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced
- 8 oz provolone cheese, sliced
Directions
- In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the olive salad.
- Transfer to a glass jar or other nonreactive container, adding more oil as needed to cover. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 day.
- Prepare the loaves of bread, slicing each in half horizontally and removing the interior of each piece somewhat, to make room for fillings.
- Spread each of the pieces of bread with the olive salad, including the oil.
- Layer half of each loaf with salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, and Provolone.
- Close the sandwich with the remaining bread and slice into quarters.
- Serve immediately, or chill to allow flavors to mingle.
For Olive Salad:
For Assembly:
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