New Orleans Style Muffulettas

NEW ORLEANS STYLE MUFFULETTAS WITH CLASSIC OLIVE TAPENADE AND A SPICY TOMATO PESTO

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to make one of my favorite sandwiches of all time. If you know me, I’m from southern Louisiana, and close enough to New Orleans to know that po-boys and muffulettas are life.

I am a huge olive lover, so the olive tapenade layers can never be thick enough. Make sure you have 2 layers!

Quality olive oil is key:

Filippo Berio is it.

There are 4 key elements to a classic, perfect muffuletta sandwich. In no particular order:

Number 1: the olive oil. Don’t skimp on this. You need this Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil oil that is made for dressings or marinades so you can make a stunning tapenade and coat that bread. Stock up on Filippo Berio, and you’ll take on a classic staple for your family pantry.

Number 2: the bread. If you don’t have access to the exclusive New Orleans muffuletta bread, which is a perfect focaccia-like round loaf that is cut in half to stuff to perfection, please use an Italian focaccia. It’s super close to the Louisiana bread, and it’s what I used, since I no longer live in Louisiana. It’s thick but soft, and we used an onion focaccia, which is utterly delightful. Our top bakery in walking distance here in Cleveland is On The Rise, Artisan Breads.

Number 3: the olive salad/tapenade. I’m sure there are many variations for this. I know that a classic New Orleans muffuletta has pearl onions in the mix. Well, sorry y’all, but I don’t love that crunch in my sandwich, so I use onion focaccia to make up for the lack of onion in the olive salad. I’ve got the next best thing though, I use some of that lovely Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil to stir up olives, capers, celery, artichokes and roasted red bell peppers.

Number 4: the meats. You have to have 3 meats. Depending on what you can find, the classic trio is deli ham, genoa salami and mortadella. I have two of the three here that I use. However, mortadella is an Italian sausage with cheese and pistachios, and I don’t want that in my muffuletta, nor could I find it anywhere locally. I used deli pastrami and I couldn’t have been happier. I say you do you. There must be 3 layers of meats, and I usually double those layers with slices. After all, you’re filling a large disc of bread with ingredients. Load up, because it’s getting cut for your family.

Keep your bread basted in olive perfection. I love my muffuletta steeped in olive oil. It keeps it tender because the bread is thick.

Don’t forget your cheese! Thick cuts of provolone for this gal!

Home for the holidays.

This has never felt so real for 2020. I’m a lucky woman. I’m thankful for working from home, and the same for my husband, and he never says no to a Louisiana holiday meal.

However, this year is different. Thanksgiving was different, and now Christmas will be the same. We’re alone. We have a puppy now, but he isn’t eating our food, so this Christmas is for just the two of us. So holiday dining for us was tricky business.

A few weeks ago, it came to me. I have never made a muffuletta, and my husband has never had one. This has got to change. For a small gathering this holiday, this is the PERFECT meal. Because let me tell you, it’s a filling meal, and it’s absolutely delicious.

Everything about this sandwich is a full course, and a course in Louisiana cooking as well. There’s so much flavor I couldn’t think of anything better to make this year. One bite of these, and you will win over anyone.

It wouldn’t be a classic New Orleans sandwich without some butcher or parchment paper lining!

I haven’t lived in Louisiana in almost a decade, so whenever the holidays come around, I’m always making classic Cajun or Creole dishes. This year may start a new tradition, because these sandwiches were always at my family’s home parties for Christmas, and I’m so glad I can continue the tradition.

I went modern this year and added a spread of Filippo Berio’s Spicy Tomato Pesto. It was an amazing decision.

NEW ORLEANS STYLE MUFFULETTAS RECIPE

Cook’s note: This recipe is for 1 full sandwich, which is 4 individual sandwiches. If you can make or order from a local bakery, which we did, please get a circular shaped bread. As mentioned before, we couldn’t find a specific muffuletta bread, so we bought an onion focaccia, and it was AMAZING. It was about a 10” diameter.

Ingredients:

• 10” Round Muffuletta or Italian Onion Focaccia Bread Loaf, cut in half, horizontally and toasted slightly before constructing sandwich

• Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil for dressing/marinades to baste bread, and 4 tablespoons for olive tapenade

• Filippo Berio Spicy Tomato Pesto to coat bread

• 1/2 pound deli genoa salami

• 1/2 pound deli ham

• 1/2 pound deli pastrami

• 1/2 pound deli provolone slices

Olive tapenade: (put all in food processor with 4 tablespoons olive oil and pulse until minced as in pictures)

• 1 cup green olives

• 1 cup black olives

• 1 cup marinated artichokes

• 1 cup marinated roasted red peppers

• 1/2 cup capers

• 1 cup fresh celery

Instructions:

Grab the fresh warmed bread halves. For the first layer, spread a generous coating of the spicy tomato pesto on to both sides, but set both down.

Take the base bread layer, and spread half the tapenade to cover.

Layer the meats, one type at a time, to cover the bread disc twice. There should be 6 layers visible in the cut.

Add the provolone cheese in 2 layers.

Spread on the second half of the olive tapenade to the top of the cheese layer.

Top the layers with the remaining bread loaf half, that has the spicy tomato pesto to form the muffuletta.

Cut into 4 pieces.

2020 Christmas meal, complete.