Today is National Sandwich Day. What’s better than a bunch of ingredients slammed between 2 slices of bread? I’ve made breakfast sandwiches, classics like French Dip, Pastrami, and Cubans, open-faced sandwiches like Smørrebrød and my classic meatball. I’ve even made Panini and Piadina, and even entered the Fried Chicken Sandwich arena. But today’s sandwich holds a special place in my heart. One, it’s really an Italian sandwich and two, I made this one year for one of my daughter’s themed family birthday parties. My younger child has a very festive birthdate and I try to go out of my way to make her day feel unique. I’ve done themed parties based on the cuisines of Cuba, NYC, Mexico, and others, including a Bayou Birthday Bash. This was the first time I made a Muffaletta and it was so good that I find myself making it about once a year. Now, I am sharing this classic with you!
Muffaletta
While typically served on a large round, sesame-covered, Italian loaf (also referred to as Muffaletta bread), it’s impossible to find where I live. I’ve typically used a large ciabatta loaf. But, I found these little ciabatta rolls and they work great too. This will be enough for 4 sandwiches.
1 cup of black olives
1 cup pimento stuffed green olives
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Pinch of parsley leaves
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil + more for drizzling
Ciabatta (either large loaf or 4 sandwich-style portions)
4 slices provolone, halved
8 slices of salami
4 slices of mortadella
4 slices of capicola
4 ¼-inch thick slices of fresh mozzarella
Pinch of minced fresh oregano
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a tapenade by adding all of the vegetables and parsley to a food processor and pulse several times until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the herbs and evoo, along with a pinch of salt and 1 tsp of black pepper. Reserve.
Slice open your bread and slather some tapenade all over the interior. Reserve the remainder for another use.
Place the halved provolone all over the bottom and top halves. Divvy up the 8 slices of salami on the bottom and top halves of the loaf, followed by layerying 4 large slices of mortadella over the sliced loaf. Next, place the mozzarella on the bottom half and the capicola on the top half.
Drizzle just a little evoo over both halves and season with freshly cracked black pepper and the oregano. Fold the top half of the loaf over the bottom and wrap in aluminum foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the sandwich to cool down for about an hour. Slice into portions and serve.
______________________________ Copyright 2022, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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