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Muffuletta
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1cup roughly chopped pitted green olives, preferably Bella di Cerignola
- 1cup roughly chopped pitted Kalamata olives
- ¾cup thinly sliced celery
- ½cup roughly chopped peeled roasted red peppers
- ⅓cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ¼cup celery leaves, torn
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1clove garlic, minced
- 2tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ½teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch.of freshly ground black pepper
- 1(8- to 9-inch round, 4-inch tall) loaf crusty Italian bread
- 4ounces soppressata, thinly sliced
- 8ounces provolone, sliced
- 4ounces Italian deli ham, thinly sliced
- 4ounces mortadella, thinly sliced
- 4ounces sweet coppa (cured Italian pork), thinly sliced
- 4ounces hard salami or bresaola, thinly sliced
For the Olive Salad
For Assembly
Preparation
- Step 1
Make the olive salad by combining all ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside to marinate.
- Step 2
Assemble the muffuletta by slicing the loaf of bread horizontally into 2 large pieces, with the top piece ⅔ the size of the bottom piece. Hollow out the top piece by removing the soft bread inside, leaving ½ inch of bread near the crust. Spread half of the olive salad on the bottom piece. Begin layering the meats, starting with the soppressata and adding ¼ of the provolone between each layer of meat except for the last.
- Step 3
Spread the remaining olive salad on the last layer of meat and top with the hollowed bread. Press down lightly and let sit at least 10 minutes. To serve, slice into 6 or 8 wedges. It will keep for several hours in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Chop a couple of anchovies into the olive salad. You won't regret it.
In New Orleans, there is a vigorous debate about muffalettas between the traditionalist and revisionist camps. It's traditionally a cold sandwich, tracing its origins to the early 20th century Italian dock workers, who didn't have much time for lunch and needed something they could just grab & go. Central Grocery made up dozens in the morning and wrapped them in paper, having them ready. The revisionists like to warm the sandwich to the point that the bread is almost toast. They're both good.
We made this for Fat Tuesday and it did not disappoint. The ingredients were easy to find and it was a very easy prep. Used an Italian boule for the bread. Took the advice of others on this site and added about 6 chopped anchovy filets to the olive salad and WOW did it make a difference. We also opted to warm ours by wrapping in foil and baking in a 350 °F oven until the cheese melted, then unwrapped and bake a little longer to crisp the bread. This is a keeper!
In New Orleans, it's well understood that recipes are mere suggestions and alterations are very common. For those who enjoy anchovies, I can see this as a nice addition, fully consistent with the idea of a muffaletta.
SO TASTY! I refrigerated the sandwich for a few hours after assembly to meld flavors, then heated it in the oven because my husband likes the cheese melted. It was AMAZING! Just as good on day 2, as well.
My favourite is from the Napoleon House. Warm and deelishus. With a Pimms' Cup, please
The olive salad is excellent. I have made muffuletta before with regular olive tapenade, which is tasty, but this is a giant step up. I've been making individual sandwiches with ciabatta rolls. They may not be "authentic", but they taste really good.
Central is wonderful for the aromas that hit you when you open the door. It was more fun to get a Muffaletta in the days when they were made to order, and the ambiance has changed a lot over the years, but that first whiff of spices and dried codfish still gets me every time. By the way, Italian (or, rather, Sicilian) olive salad never included Greek olives. And there are other little goodies in it like Cauliflower. I love the stuff, and am happy that I can buy it fresh at Central Grocery.
Incredible sandwich. Had no problem finding the ingredients. It's well worth it to make the olive salad. If you have the time - make it in advance and wrap tightly in aluminum foil and refrigerate for a couple hours - it's so good.
I missed muffulettas more than almost anything else when I left New Orleans, so last time I went back I had them at Central Grocery, Napoleon House (my original favorite, with Dixie beer and classical music) and Maspero's. They were all good, but warm is way better in my view. Like turning everything up to 11. And does anyone else pronounce it like I learned back in the 1970s? Muffle-OTTA.
Classic muffelettas at Central Grocery are mouth-watering, sure enough. But good muffs can be found nowadays at many places around New Orleans. Try them hot at Verti Marte, the great little grocery on Royal Street.
You could, but it wouldn't be a muffaletta anymore. It may appear unhealthy, by some standards, but is absolutely delicious. We don't eat it regularly...it's a nice treat every once and a while.
I also eat with a spoon, with tortilla chips, or on a green salad. So good! I like to add: 1/4 c. chopped carrots other crunchy veggies like cauliflower, bell pepper 1 t. red pepper flakes 1 T. capers I also adjust liquids (less vinegar, more olive oil): 1 1/2 T. red wine vinegar 1/3 c. olive oil
Best muffeleta I ever had was at Magnolia Cafe in St. Francisville. The bread was out of this world.
good recipe-- I used my own roasted peppers, and balsamic vinegar.
To prevent a "soggy bottom" and reduce spillage, don't hollow out the top - spread olive salad on the bottom slice, place the loaf top on the bottom slice and invert, then press! Turn right side up, open the loaf and complete the assembly process. Excess juiciness and loose olive salad in the lower slice is absorbed by the now well-seasoned upper slice, allowing the top layer of salad (applied last) to percolate through the main ingredients.
Feel free to use tapenade or bruschetta as a substitute for the olive salad (big time saver and still delicious). The olive salad is totally worth the effort, if you have the time. Any sliced lunch meats work and/or sliced cheeses work in a pinch, if you don't have mortadella and fancy salamis laying around. Softer bread works better- I tried a sourdough loaf, which was delicious, but we worried about teeth coming out as we pulled on the tough bread.
This was a HUGE hit. I highly recommend heating the sandwiches, as it takes the flavor to greater heights! I heated them at 350 for at least 30 minutes. I should say I first wrapped the sandwiches in parchment paper, then wrapped that in aluminum foil. I then left the sandwiches in the oven for at least 30 minutes. Then, since my partner was still not ready for dinner, I just turned off the heat in the oven and left the sandwiches in the warm oven for another 30 minutes perfection!
This was a very big hit at our house!! It's the best subway sandwich you could every imagine. Heating it in the oven makes it so much better. I'm still trying to find the correct length of time to leave the sandwich in the 350 F (180 C) oven - 20 minutes was not long enough for all the meat in the center to be hot. I'm going to try 25 minutes next. The olive salad is genius. And, as others have said, you can leave the prepared sandwich in the refrigerator and bake it the next day.
I use arugula instead of parsley. I also love the idea of making individual sandwiches on ciabatta rolls!
What takes the Central Gricery nuffaletta over the top is that - right in the middle - there is a layer of really superb imported Emmentaler Swiss. That delicious nutty imported Swiss is what sets the Crntral Grocery version apart. No sopprasetta - mortadella instead. And two layers of salami (top and bottom). Central Grocery is still closed but the shop next door sells them as well as at least some Rouse's supermarkets and other spots. No other muffaletta comes close.
My grandmother used to make a muff with crumbled italian sausage and ricotta, toasted in the oven. Yumm!!!!
This obviously needed to be pressed more than lightly - should not be falling all over the place like that.
My mom in law gave me her recipe, which is very similar and delicious. But, after she’s wrapped it tightly, she will press it down, with a constant weight for at least a few hours. (When she’s made this for a picnic, she will make it about 8 hrs (or overnight) beforehand.) This causes all of the ingredients to meld together. And, it packs SO easily as an entire loaf of bread, that it’s practically indestructible. Simply slice, and serve. Yum!!!
Made this because I was inspired by Queer Eye's Lambda Chi Alpha episode. Made half the recipe using an oblong loaf covered with sesame seeds. Before cutting I toasted it on a cookie sheet in a 400-degree oven for 10 minutes -- would do that again. Next time I'll try adding red pepper flakes to the olive mixture and/or use spicier meat. What a treat.
Central Grocery is STILL closed due to damage from Hurricane Ida. They are working on repairs and rebuilding. Wonder how it will look -- and smell -- when it finally reopens? Central Grocery is selling its muffulettas at several locations around New Orleans.
Native New Orleanian here. Note that eliminating the meat still produces a spectacular sandwich!
While serviceable, not sure why this recipe has you make the olive salad from scratch when premade and delicious options exist in the jar at most delis.
If you love olives..youll love this! But I use premade olive salad.. I prefer Solestado brand Muffelatta Oilve Salad becuse if the ingredients
This is spectacular. Made it share at our annual July 4th James Taylor concert at Tanglewood (venue in the Berkshires of MA, where lawn seats are ALL about the picnic spread). I followed ingredients to a T, although I opted to use two rectangular ciabatta loaves for ease of cutting and reducing the spillage potential. This will be my contribution of choice going forward. It’s perfect.
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