A genuine muffuletta should be made on oven-fresh round Italian bread loves topped with sesame seeds. The spicy, tangy olive salad is what really sets this meat and cheese sandwich apart. These gigantic sandwiches were invented a century ago at Sicilian Deli here in New Orleans. Be sure to use high-quality ingredients as it really makes a difference!
Ingredients
- pimento-stuffed green olives: 1 cup (crushed)
- Kalamata olives: 0.5 cup (crushed, drained)
- pepperoncini: 0.5 cup (drained)
- pickled cauliflower florets: 0.25 cup (roughly chopped)
- marinated cocktail onions: 0.25 cup
- garlic: 2 clove (minced)
- capers: 2 Tbsp (drained)
- celery: 1 Tbsp (chopped)
- carrot: 1 Tbsp (chopped)
- oregano: 1 tsp (dried)
- basil: 1 tsp (dried)
- ground black pepper: 0.75 tsp
- celery seed: 0.5 tsp
- olive oil: 0.5 cup
- canola oil: 0.25 cup
- red wine vinegar: 0.25 cup
- loaves Italian bread: 2 piece (1 pound)
- ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami: 8 piece
- ounces thinly sliced cooked ham: 8 piece
- ounces sliced mortadella: 8 piece
- ounces sliced mozzarella cheese: 8 piece
- ounces sliced provolone cheese: 8 piece
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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To make the olive salad: Roughly chop together green olives, Kalamata olives, pepperoncini, cauliflower, cocktail onions, garlic, capers, celery, and carrot.
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Combine with oregano, basil, black pepper, and celery seed in a medium bowl. Add in olive oil, canola oil, and vinegar. Mix together and transfer the mixture into a glass jar (or other nonreactive container). Pour in more oil to cover if needed. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Cover jar or container and refrigerate at least 8 hours to overnight. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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To make the sandwiches: Cut loaves of bread in half horizontally; hollow out some of the excess bread to make room for filling. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Spread each piece of bread with equal amounts of the olive salad, including oil. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Layer bottom half of each loaf with 1/2 of the salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, and Provolone slices. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Replace top half on each loaf and cut the sandwiches into quarters. Dotdash Meredith Food Studios Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
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Serve immediately, or wrap tightly and refrigerate for a few hours; this will allow for the flavors to mingle and the olive salad to soak into the bread. DOTDASH MEREDITH FOOD STUDIOS
