…if what they want is GOOD food.

When I walked into Lucca Ravioli in San Francisco’s Mission District to buy some meat for a muffuletta sandwich, the first thing the clerk asked me was whether or not I had made my olive salad yet.  After letting him know that I had a few recipes in mind, the guy literally thrust a jar of Granzella’s Muffuletta Mix into my hands.  Letting me know that he was a New Orleans native, he assured me that this was the olive salad to use if I was looking to make anything close to an authentic “m00-fa-la-ta” sandwich (I later came to find out the stuff is made in Northern California).  I pride myself on making almost everything on my blog from scratch, so the thought of using a prepared olive salad seemed a bit out of my comfort zone.  However, after taking a good hard look at the ingredients contained within Granzella’s New Orleans style mix, I knew I was in good hands.   A mix of Sicilian and Greek olives, red pepper, pickled cauliflower, carrots, celery, mushrooms, artichokes, vinegar and olive oil, there was no doubt that this wouldn’t make for an extraordinary sandwich.

After purchasing the necessary meat and cheese for my sandwich, I was faced with another dilemma in finding the appropriate loaf of bread for the recipe.  This ingredient, as it would turn out, would prove to be the most difficult to locate.  After looking in a handful of supermarkets and bakeries I was at a loss to find anything remotely similar to the iconic round Italian loaf that makes these sandwiches so magical.  So, like any good home cook, I set out to bake the loaf myself.  With so few offerings on the internet for such an obscure recipe, I went with what I could find and was met with terrific results.  With all the necessary ingredients in line, I set out to make the best muffuletta possible outside of New Orleans.

MUFFULETTA

I’ve come to learn recently that it’s not always about authenticity when making certain dishes.  Instead, I feel we should all be concerned about putting out the best possible tasting dish we can regardless of finding the exact component that will make a dish true to its origin.  For this very reason I recommend going out and making this incredible sandwich with whatever you can find.  If you want to take the time to make an authentic muffuletta Italian loaf, kudos to you.  If you don’t, go out and find yourself a nice round Italian loaf, ciabatta or foccacia to use as your base.  When it comes to the all important olive salad, buy a jar or make your own — just make sure it’s something that you think tastes good.  On the topic of meat, as far as I can tell, anything goes.  I opted for a more traditional combination of capicola, mortadella, and genoa salami, but anything you particularly like should work just fine.  When I told the New Orleans native in the store that I was going to use provolone in my sandwich he recommended a jalapeno munster.  Whatever you decide to go with, make sure to remove some of the crumb from your loaf of bread to accommodate the surplus of meat, cheese and salad that will be stuffed inside its crust.  For maximum flavor and texture, leave sufficient time to press and marinate your sandwich in the fridge so that all that olive oil and olive salad can soak into the bread properly.  Finally, when it comes time to serve this thing, use a sharp serrated knife to cut even wedges for your guest in order to show off those beautiful layers of flavors.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 10-inch round Italian bread loaf, or ciabatta, foccacia, sourdough loaf
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 pound capicola, thinly sliced
• 1/3 pound Genoa salami, thinly sliced
• 1/3 pound mortadella, thinly sliced
• 1/3 pound provolone cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 12-ounce jar olive salad mix or 12-ounces homemade olive relish

METHOD:

1. Begin by slicing the bread loaf in half horizontally and removing some of the interior crumb, leaving a 1/3-inch border.
   
2. Lightly brush each hollowed-out half of the loaf with a nice even layer of olive oil before spreading the base with half of the olive salad.
   
3. Proceed by stacking the capicola in an even layer on top of the olive salad followed by half of the provolone cheese, all of the Genoa salami, the remaining provolone and finally the mortadella.
   
4. Finish the sandwich by spreading on the remaining 6-ounces of olive salad and place the top back on the filled loaf.  Tightly wrap the sandwich with plastic wrap and place the loaf between two large plates.  Top the plate with a heavy weight (I used a cast-iron skillet filled with two 28-ounces cans of tomatoes) and put the muffuletta into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight) to allow the flavors to marinate and the let the bread soak up some of the delicious olive salad.
5. To serve, use a long, sharp serrated knife to cut the sandwich into 4 even wedges.  Allow the sandwich to come to room temperature before serving for maximum flavor.
   

Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry people)

OLIVE SALAD/RELISH

Adapted from Saveur Magazine

If you don’t want to use the stuff from the jar, try your hand at making it from scratch using this recipe.  Add vinegar to taste if you like it a bit tangy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup coarsely chopped cauliflower florets
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 1 small carrot, thinly sliced crosswise
  
• 1 small rib celery, thinly sliced crosswise
  
• 3/4 cup chopped pitted oil-cured green olives
  
• 1/4 cup chopped pitted oil-cured black olives
  
• 2 tablespoon chopped drained pimientos
• Red wine vinegar to taste
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  
• 1 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

METHOD:

1. Put the cauliflower, oil, oregano, thyme, carrots, celery, and 3 tablespoons water into a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, until vegetables are just tender, 10–12 minutes.
2. Transfer contents of pot to a small bowl, then stir in olives, pimientos, vinegar and salt and pepper. Let relish cool. Stir in parsley; set aside.

MUFFALETTA BREAD

Adapted from Cajun-Creole Cooking by Terry Thompson

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup warm water (110° F)
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
  
• 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
• 3 cups bread flour (plus more for dusting)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons iodized salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening or lard
• Sesame seeds for garnish

METHOD:

1. In a 2 cup capacity measuring cup, combine the water, sugar and yeast. Stir until well-incorporated and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy.
   
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, salt and shortening and process until the fat is cut in thoroughly.
   
3. Slowly add in the water/yeast mixture and bring everything together with the paddle until a loose ball forms.
   
4. Switch over to a dough hook attachment and process the dough on medium-low (KitchenAid Speed 3) for 10 minutes.  Add a few more tablespoons of warm water if the dough appears to be too dry.
5. Lightly oil a large bowl, swirling to coat evenly.  Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and knead it a few times by hand before forming it into a smooth ball and placing it in the oiled bowl.  Turn the dough to coat with oil and cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap.  Allow the dough to rest for in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in volume.
6. Lightly grease a baking sheet.  Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly-floured work surface.  Form the dough into a flat, round 9-inch diameter loaf (a rolling pin helps here) and place it onto the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds, cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest for another 1 to 1 1/2 hour until almost doubled in volume.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the over to 425° F.  When the oven is properly heated, remove the plastic wrap and bake the loaf in the oven for 10 minutes.  Lower the heat to 375° F and bake for another 25 minutes.  The loaf should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
8. Remove the loaf to a wire rack and allow the bread to come to room temperature before slicing.

Makes 1 10-inch loaf