New Orleans Style Muffuletta

The muffuletta is an Italian influenced sandwich that originated in the New Orleans French Quarter. I have had a serious hankering for some good ol' Louisana style cuisine and this dish just hit the spot. The best thing about this sandwich is that the longer it sits and marinates the better it tastes. I highly suggest making this sandwich on Sunday and take it to work for lunch for a few so you can tastes the flavors enhancing. 

 In this specific recipe I used a special ingredient, wild boar salami. I bought this as well as the genoa salami and ham at Overland Meat Co, South Lake Tahoe's local butcher. The wild boar salami came highly suggested from the owner himself so I knew it had to be tasty and it was! Wild boar salami made a perfect addition to the muffuletta giving it just a little more excitement.  If you don't have access to wild boar salami you can really use any kind of cured meats that you enjoy like capicola, soppresseta or prosciutto. 

Now for my other favorite part of the muffuletta... the bread. I had some extra time on my hands so I decided to make a muffuletta loaf from scratch. The muffuletta bread recipe is quite easy and posted below for my fellow bread makers. If you don't have the time or love for baking bread a good piece of focaccia from your local bakery will do just the trick.

Olive Salad
1/4 cup kalamata olives
1/2 cup green olives with pimentos
1 tbs capers
1 16oz jar of Giardiniera (pickled cauliflower, celery, onions +
1/4 cup fresh parsley
pinch of oregano 
2 tbs lemon juice
3 tbs olive oil

Finely chop all above ingredients then toss in oil and lemon juice. Place in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use. 

Sandwich Fixins
 1/4 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
1/4 lb smoked ham
1/4 lb genoa salami
1/4 lb wild boar salami (use your preference here)
1/4 lb mortadella
1/4 lb slices of provolone 

Split your loaf of bread horizontally. Place half of the olive salad on the bottom piece of bread. Next layer the cheese and meats in order above. Top the last layer with the rest of the olive salad and carefully press the top of the sandwich back on.

At this point you can leave the round whole, wrap and refrigerate for until ready to serve or cut the sandwich into 6 rounds and wrap individually and refrigerate. You should let the sandwich ready for at least a few hours or overnight to let the flavors build. 

Bread
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup luke warm water
3 tsp instant yeast
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Place the sugar and yeast into the warm water and let it sit until it becomes bubbly. Make sure the water is not too hot. Meanwhile place the bread flour and salt into a stand mixer or a bowl. Once the yeast is bubbly slowly pour it into the flour along with the oil. Stir the mixture with the paddle attachment on your mixer or a fork until smooth and not too sticky. Remove from the bowl and knead for 5 minutes. Place the ball into a lightly oiled bowl cover with plastic wrap and a towel (make sure it's air tight). Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the dough form the bowl and punch the air out and form into an oval. Lightly brush the round with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds, lightly pressing them into the dough. Cover and let rise for another 15 minutes. Place in the oven on the top rack and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and cook for 15 minutes longer. The loaf will sound hollow when tapped. 

Let the loaf rest for at least 12 hours before cutting for snadwich.