Make a New Orleans Muffuletta Anytime, Anywhere

New Orleans delivers a variety of distinctive food traditions. Cajun seasonings, rich Creole tastes and the smell of crawfish boiling over open flames can instantly return anyone who has ever visited to the Crescent City.

The submarine or grinder sandwich is common throughout the United States but the Muffuletta is a true New Orleans food tradition. Created at Central Grocery on Decatur Street, today there are as many variations of the Muffuletta as there are restaurants and home cooks.

A flattened, round loaf of bread topped with sesame seeds and a selection of Italian meats and cheeses are fairly common. What makes each Muffuletta unique is the Olive Salad that is used to dress the sandwich. The only common ingredient from kitchen to kitchen is the use of olives.

Most of the ingredients for the Olive Salad can be found on the Olive Bar at larger grocery stores instead of filling the refrigerator with partially used jars. Angie Mohr has a great recipe for Giardiniera here.

Olive Salad

5 cloves garlic, quartered
1 cup green olives, pitted
½ cup kalamata olives, pitted
1 cup Giardiniera, drained
1 tablespoon capers
¼ cup cocktail onions
1 whole roasted red pepper, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 pinches crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (approximately)

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel chopping blade, combine garlic, olives, gardiniera, capers, cocktail onions and red peppers. Pulse a few times to chop the ingredients. Add parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes and vinegar to food processor bowl. Pulse 3 or 4 more times to blend all ingredients. Do not over-process. The olive salad should be slightly chunky, not pureed. Transfer to a container with a tight fitting lid. Add olive oil to cover the olive salad mixture, stirring well. Refrigerate several days to allow flavors to blend.

Assembling a Muffuletta is similar to creating a work of art. All of the meats and cheeses should be thinly sliced.

1 loaf Muffuletta Bread or round Italian bread, sliced across the middle.
4 ounces genoa salami
4 ounces deli ham or spicy Capicola ham
4 ounces Mortadella (an Italian-style bologna)
4 ounces mozzarella cheese
4 ounces provolone cheese
Olive Salad

Brush each bread half with oil from the Olive Salad, using more oil on the bottom half. Layer 2 ounces of the genoa salami on the bottom half, followed by the ham, Mortadella, mozzarella, provolone and the other 2 ounces of salami. Generously top the meat and cheese with olive salad. Place the top half of the bread on the sandwich and gently squeeze together. If a warm Muffuletta is preferred, wrap the sandwich in foil and heat in a 325 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

The traditional way to cut a Muffuletta is into quarters and several napkins are necessary.