Muffu What?

Muffuletta the Sandwich

“Life is like a sandwich the more you add to it, the better it becomes.”

Unknown

 

A bit of history here. First, before all you spellers get your knickers in a wad there are two count them two proper ways of spelling this wonderful treat. They are: Muffuletta or Muffaletta okay… there are more spellings such as: Muffolettu. The spelling differs due to the different Sicilian accents.

Muffuletta, is in fact a bread, round, flat with a soft crust with a spongy interior. Which makes it excellent for absorbing the juices of the Olive salad.

Confused, of course you are, so keep reading.

In today’s New Orleans if you say muffuletta they will point you to the Central Grocery in the infamous French Quarter. You see nowadays it is a not just a loaf of bread it is a sandwich.

The Silician vendors selling their produce at the local farmers market would go to the Central Market and order the muffuletta loaf, salami, ham, cheese and olive salad step outside and eat each separately. In 1906 the owner of the store Mr. Salvatore Lupo, suggested putting them all together in a sandwich.

Testing other breads Mr. Lupo decided the muffuletta loaf worked best, easier to bite into and easier to chew.

Enjoy this treat

Modern version:

Olive Salad

1 (32 ounce) jar pimento-stuffed Green olives, chopped

2 cups pitted ripe olives, chopped / 473.18 ml

1 1/4 cups chopped pickled cocktail olives / 295.74 ml

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 cups blanched chopped cauliflower / 473.18 ml

1/4 cup minced garlic / 59.13 ml

2 medium carrots, peeled and minced

2 teaspoons dried leaf oregano / 9.85 ml

1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley /14.78 ml

2/3 cup red wine vinegar /157.67 ml

1/4 cup olive oil / 59.13 ml

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to blend well. Store in jars with tight-fitting lids in the refrigerator. Makes about 3 quarts.

Tilly: That’s a lotta salsa …maybe making half or a third of the quantity would work for average families.

Olive: Only if that “average family” lived in the U.K.

You can use this as a dressing for muffuletta Sandwich, it also makes a great addition to tossed green salads, pizzas, and is a great relish to spread on toasted French bread.

Muffuletta Sandwich

1 (10-inch) Muffuletta Bread loaf

3 ounces honey ham, thinly sliced / 85.05 g

3 ounces Mortadella with pistachios, / 85.05 g

Thinly sliced

3 ounces Genoa salami, very thinly sliced / 85.05 g

1 heaping cup olive salad

5 slices Provolone cheese

For those of you who like your sandwich warmed:

Preheat oven to 350 F, 180 C, or Gas Mark 4

Cut bread in half crosswise to form a sandwich bun. Layer the honey ham on the bottom of the loaf. Next add the Mortadella, then the salami. Spread the olive salad over the meats evenly. Top with the slices of Provolone cheese and place the top on the sandwich. Press down to compress slightly. Wrap the sandwich in foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has begun to melt into the olive salad. Slice sandwich into 4 quarters. Use wooden picks to secure layers, if desired; remove picks before eating.

Note here… If you do not like to heat this sandwich up, secure the layers and cut into four sections.

Either way, you will love it.

Tilly: Not always easy to find muffuletta loavies – ciabatta or focaccia work well. O rmaybe – sacrilege! – a Portuguese Bolo de caco (from Madeira); it is a similar shape to a muffuletta. I have a friend who lives in France and makes delicious muffuletta sandwiches in crusty cottage loaves.  She cuts off the top, takes out most of the dough (uses it for breadcrumbs) and fills it with all the above goodies. They are r-e-a-l-l-y good,

Olive: Can you get the recipe from her, please. You could do a swap with the muffuletta recipe.

Olive and Tilly

For a copy of the above recipes go to:

www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofoliveandtilly/

Tilly: Sandwiches are life-savers:

“Stretch of I-95 has already had one brush with disaster. In 2008 two contractors from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation stopped to get a sausage sandwich, and parked their cars under this bridge. And fortunately they wanted that sausage sandwich because they saw one of these piers with an eight foot gash in it about five inches wide. And oh, they knew automatically that this bridge was in deep trouble.”

Steve Kroft

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6 Comments

    • Olive

      Maybe it is because of your responses to me.
      OR maybe
      Let’s hear it for Fannie Farmer…
      where you stated “Tilly: I hope it really, really hurt!” When I said.. “I don’t mind telling y’all what a pain in the, well you know where.”
      Or maybe it was a husband… HOW TO COOK A HUSBAND.
      First, catch him. Many good husbands are spoiled in the
      cooking
      “Tilly: Olive, you and I know that many husbands are begging for a good roasting.”
      Or maybe it is your insistence on putting garlic on everything.
      Or it could be to correct your spelling, you know “Honor” vs “Honour”

  • Jerry Bell

    As always, ladies, my mind has added the ingredients together, and now mouth drools in anticipation. By the way I would not have to divide the recipe when feeding my family. If all the kids are home, even without spouses and grandkids, we have fourteen at the table. I’m sure the olive salad would not survive the meal.
    As always, I love your blog. Sorry it too so long to look this one up.
    Yumm

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