Muffaletta Recipe

4.78 from 9 votes

This muffaletta recipe is the ultimate sandwich from New Orleans, piled high with Italian meats, cheese, and a homemade spicy olive salad. Feeds a crowd!

Prep Time15

Cook Time5

Resting Time1

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: cold cuts, giardiniera, New Orleans, olives, sandwich, spicy

Servings:

Calories: 580kcal

Author: Mike Hultquist

Ingredients

FOR THE OLIVE TAPENADE MIXTURE

1 cup green olives chopped
1 cup giardiniera chopped (or use pickled peppers)
½ cup roasted red peppers chopped
1 shallot minced
2 tablespoons capers
3 cloves garlic minced
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano

FOR THE MUFFALETTA SANDWICH

1 10- inch loaf of round Italian bread use Muffaletta bread if you can obtain it, but Italian is great
½ pound sliced capicola or use deli ham, or both!
½ pound sliced mortadella
½ pound sliced salami
½ pound sliced provolone cheese

Instructions

FOR THE OLIVE SALAD / TAPENADE

Mix together the olives, giardiniera, roasted red peppers, shallot, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil and oregano in large bowl.

ASSEMBLE THE MUFFALETTA

Slice the loaf of bread in half lengthwise and scoop out part of the interior to make room for the olive-pepper salad. Save the scooped out bread for another use if you’d like.
Lay the bread slices down with the insides facing up.
Spread the olive tapenade mixture evenly over the bread slices.
Layer the bottom slice with capicola, mortadella, salami and provolone cheese.
Top with the other half of bread.
Wrap the entire muffaletta sandwich with plastic wrap and set a pan or other weight over the top of the sandwich to lightly press it down. This will let the bread soak up some of the tapenade juices and build a lot of flavor. Set aside for 1 hour.
Unwrap the sandwich, slice it into 8 triangular pieces and serve.

Video

Notes

Makes 4 very large slices, 8 average-sized slices, or you can slice thinner to serve as appetizers.

Nutrition