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A classic New Orleans Italian sandwich with layers of meat and cheese buried in a thick, dense bread and dressed with olive salad loaded, with olive oil. |
New Orleans Style Muffuletta
If you don't like a lot of cold cuts, olives, or olive oil, but especially if you don't like olives, you'll want to skip this post, because the olive salad is the real star of the New Orleans Muffuletta. By the way - there are many ways to say muffuletta - even around here there are predominately two, "muff-uh-LEHT-tuh" or "moof-fuh-LEHT-tuh."Sometimes some of the ingredients found in an authentic New Orleans muffuletta are even hard to find around here. Which is kinda odd seeing as we are so close to New Orleans and all, but outside of the restaurants that serve muffuletta sandwiches around here, I'm not sure there are a lot of South Mississippians who are making Muffulettas at home.
While Italians certainly brought the sandwich to New Orleans, in truth, the New Orleans versions vary according to the deli you get it from anyway, because they all seem to have their own twists on it. Central Grocery, which is where it is said this sandwich originated back in the early 1900s, does it a little bit different than Progress grocery, who do it differently from Serio’s Deli, who do it differently from Gambinos, even though they are all practically downtown neighbors. Back in the good ole days when I lived on the West Bank of New Orleans, we usually got ours at Di Martino's on Carol Sue Avenue in Gretna, and made a meal of it for days. Those were some good times.
New Orleans Muffulettas usually have Cappicola ham - which is an Italian ham similar to prosciutto, but if there is no deli that sells Cappicola in your area, use regular ham. Serio's Deli uses Mortadela on their muffuletta, but it can also be difficult to find outside of New Orleans. Mortadela is an Italian cold cut made of pork, so the closest thing to it would be bologna, so substitute that if you have to. Rouses Grocery store here in Mississippi, usually carries Mortadela in the deli, and it's often the kind with pistachios - yum!
The other key factor to a successful muffuletta is the bread. Ideally, we would make our own, but a good, dense 10 to 12-inch round Italian bread is the best bet to hold up to the juices from the olive salad and olive oil. You can see from my pictures that the bread very quickly soaked up the olive oil, so make sure you get a good dense bread. If you are making mini sandwiches for tailgating, you'll want to just use the olive salad as a spread and go easy with the oily juices.
As you see this is a substantial sandwich. Out of the half I made up there, I can eat about 1/4 of that half. The Cajun will eat half of the half.
By the way, whether tailgating with mini sliders on Hawaiian rolls, or prepared on muffuletta bread, these are great party fare. Just halve the sandwich, then cut into quarters, secure with some of those long cocktail picks to hold 'em together and watch your guests gobble 'em up!
So, let's build a Muffuletta!
First we'll be startin' with some bread. Now ideally you'll want a muffuletta loaf, because for this sandwich you need a solid, dense and crusty bread that'll stand up to these fillings and all that oil. But, unless you live in New Orleans, you're not gonna be likely to find one, so a good French bread should work. A round loaf of No Knead Bread would also work if you want to make your own.

Now cut that half in half and give half to your sweetie. Eat the other half if you're a real woman, but if you're a bit whimpy like me, cut your half in half, eat one quarter and save the other one for later. See how quickly the bread begins to soak up the olive oil? This is why there is no mayonnaise or mustard involved. You really don't need it because all of that olivey oily goodness just soaks up into the bread. Which is another reason you really need to start with a good, solid dense loaf of bread, or you'll basically end up with what is more of a Panzanella salad on your hands. Now let's see ya wrap yer mouth around that!

For more of my favorite sandwiches, visit my page on Pinterest!

New Orleans Style Muffuletta
Ingredients
- 1 loaf (10 to 12-inch) round Muffuletta bread or substitute with a similar Italian bread
- 1 cup olive salad {recipe below}
- 1/2 cup peperoncini
- 1/2 cup giardiniera
- 8 slices Cappicola ham or your favorite deli ham
- 8 slices Swiss cheese
- 8 slices Mortadella (or substitute with bologna)
- 8 slices of Provolone cheese
- 8 slices of Genoa hard salami
- 1 1/2 cup pitted green olives
- 1/4 cup pitted Kalamta olives
- 1/4 cup black olives
- 1/3 cup pimento
- 1 cup Italian giardiniera
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup peperoncini
- 1/2 cup pickled pearl onions
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of quality, extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut the bread in half length-wise and pile the olive salad on one half of the bread.
- Begin to layer the meats on the other half, beginning with the ham, then the Swiss cheese, then the bologna, then the Provolone, then the salami.
- Carefully put the two halves together and moosh them down together.
- Wrap completely in aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes, or until heated through.
- Cut into halves and quarters to serve up to 4. May also be served cold.
- Combine everything and let marinate in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Amounts are just estimates - use more or less as you like!
Notes:
We serve muffulettas with a bottled Barq's root beer and a side of Zapp's potato chips, because that's about all you need with this hearty sandwich. A side of potato salad or a simple pasta salad is also good. If you don't want to make up your own olive salad, I recommend Sal & Judy's Olive Salad, and Mezzetta Greek peperoncini and Italian giardiniera. If you'd rather have the olive salad cold, wait to add it after you've heated the sandwich.
Muffuletta Sliders: Prepare sandwiches on mini dinner rolls (like King's Hawaiian dinner rolls), going lighter on the olive salad juices. If heating, place rolls on several layers of aluminum foil on a tray. Slice completely across the rolls, keeping top and bottom rolls intact, and removing the top section in one piece. Add olive salad, and layer meats and cheeses as listed, wrap completely in foil and bake as above. Use a serrated knife to cut through the sandwiches before plating. May also cut meats and cheeses to accommodate the buns if using separated rolls.
Tailgating Tips: Use sandwich wrappers and stack sandwiches on their side in a tray to reduce soggy buns from dripping juices. Serve immediately, or can be made a day ahead by storing tray in refrigerator until game day. Great for other parties too!
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