Muffuletta Sandwich

About This Recipe

The muffuletta is New Orleans' great Sicilian-Creole sandwich: a wide, round sesame loaf split and layered with Genoa salami, mortadella, ham, provolone, and Swiss, then crowned with the element that defines it — olive salad, a briny, garlicky chop of green and black olives, giardiniera, celery, and oregano steeped in olive oil. Invented at Central Grocery on Decatur Street for Sicilian farmers' market workers, it is built to sit: the olive oil soaks into the crumb and the flavors marry, which is why a muffuletta an hour old beats one made to order. One quarter is a meal; a whole one feeds four.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 round (10-inch)sesame-topped Italian loaf (muffuletta bread)
• 1 cuppitted green olives(roughly chopped)
• 0.5 cuppitted Kalamata olives(roughly chopped)
• 0.5 cupItalian giardiniera(drained and roughly chopped)
• 2 tbspcapers(drained)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tspdried oregano
• 0.5 tspcrushed red pepper flakes
• 0.33 cupextra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ozGenoa salami(thinly sliced)
• 4 ozmortadella(thinly sliced)
• 4 ozcapicola or boiled ham(thinly sliced)
• 4 ozsliced provolone
• 4 ozsliced Swiss cheese

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare

   Make the olive salad: roughly chop green and Kalamata olives, giardiniera, celery, and capers, then mix with minced garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and olive oil. Rest it at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.

   The olive salad improves dramatically with an overnight rest; make a double batch and keep it for weeks in the refrigerator.

2. 2

   Cook

   Slice the round sesame loaf horizontally and pull out a little of the interior crumb from the top half so the fillings sit snugly. Brush both cut faces generously with oil from the olive salad.

3. 3

   Combine

   Layer the bottom with salami, ham, and mortadella, then provolone and Swiss, folding the meats loosely so the sandwich stays tender rather than compressed into slabs. Spoon the olive salad thickly over the cheese.

4. 4

   Serve

   Cap the sandwich, wrap it tightly in plastic, and press it under a heavy skillet for 30 to 60 minutes at room temperature. Unwrap, cut into quarters with a serrated knife, and serve.

   Pressing is essential — it lets the dressing penetrate the bread and fuses the layers into a single sliceable whole.

Variations

• •

  Hot muffuletta: wrap in foil and warm at 350°F for 15 minutes until the cheese melts.

• •

  Turkey muffuletta: swap the cured pork for smoked turkey, keeping the olive salad intact.

• •

  Vegetarian: layers of provolone, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, and artichokes under the olive salad.

• •

  Muffuletta sliders: build the same layers on a slab of split Hawaiian rolls and bake briefly.

Storage

Wrapped tightly, the assembled sandwich keeps refrigerated up to 2 days and arguably improves over the first day. The olive salad alone keeps a month refrigerated under a film of olive oil.

Frequently Asked Questions