Celebrate Italian-American ingenuity and the lore of New Orleans with this iconic sandwich
The muffaletta (also spelled muffuletta), like the po’-boy, was created in what I like to think of as my own (extended) backyard: the incomparable city of New Orleans.
Of Sicilian origin, muffuletta is actually the name of the Italian bread that holds the virtual charcuterie board of ingredients that make up this massive sandwich together. If you’ve never seen one, muffaletta bread is a large, round, somewhat flat, sesame seed-topped loaf, traditionally baked and wrapped in paper during religious holidays in Sicily. It is now, of course, synonymous with the sandwich; and like beignets, jambalaya and pralines, it is quintessentially New Orleans.
The origin of this (unusually large) sandwich was between 1890-1920 when nearly 300,000 Italians immigrated to New Orleans, Louisiana. Most set up shop in an area of the French Quarter that soon became known as Little Palermo and one such man, by the name of Salvatore Lupo, opened a small Italian-American grocery store in 1906 called Central Grocery. It was there — at 923 Decatur Street in the heart of what was Little Palermo, where he sold Italian meats, cheeses, breads, olives and such — that he would soon combine the ingredients and create what is now known as The Muffuletta.
Now owned and operated by the third generation of the Lupo family, Central Grocery is still in business. It actually remained in the same location, 923 Decatur Street, for 115 years, serving paper-wrapped muffaletta and so much more. Unfortunately, Hurricane Ida (August 29, 2021), a Category-4 storm that came onshore exactly 16 years to the day of Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005), inflicted heavy damage on the building when a brick wall fell onto its roof. Restoration is still not complete at the time of this publication, but hope remains the family will one day be able to return.
“My” recipe is an homage to the Central Grocery/ Lupo family original, but it is simpler to make and just as satisfying to eat. It was given to me by a retired chef named Brenda, who moved to Mobile, Alabama in the early 1990s from Chalmette, Louisiana, a little town not far from New Orleans. She was a kind and patient teacher and I soaked up all I could during our time together.
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This is one of the best sandwiches ever and another gift from all the cultural melding that took place in the South, in New Orleans in particular, at the turn of the 20th century. It would be nice to think the Italians were welcomed with open arms, that their work ethic and all they brought to the table was appreciated, but that was certainly not the case. Luckily, these hard-working, entrepreneurial people survived the xenophobia and endured. As a result of their perseverance, we are the lucky recipients of their flavors and cooking methods they brought with them from their native Italy.
This sandwich packs a punch from the briny, garlicky olive salad and spicy cured meats, but the creamy cheeses and fluffy, chewy bread mellow and balance its flavors absolutely perfectly. And it is everything your body craves after a sweaty day of fun in the sun.
Muffaletta
Yields
12 servings
Prep Time
15 minutes, plus 6 to 8 hours refrigeration time
Ingredients
For the olive salad:
1 1/2 cups chopped green olives
1 cup chopped, oil-cured black olives
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pimento (or if you prefer, extra finely chopped red bell pepper, though this is not traditional)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/3 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1-3 cloves minced fresh garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Ground black pepper to taste
Remaining ingredients for the sandwich:
1 large round Italian loaf
1 cup shredded lettuce
2 cups thinly sliced tomatoes, preferably de-seeded
1/2 lb Italian salami, ham, pastrami, pepperoni (combo of cured meats of choice)
1/4 lb thinly sliced mozzarella, provolone and/or Swiss cheese
Directions
- For the olive salad: Combine all ingredients in a bowl with a cover and allow to marinate several hours.
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To assemble sandwich: Cut bread in half horizontally and remove the majority of bread from inside the bottom half, leaving about an inch of full, intact bread as a border all around.
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Drain the olive salad, reserve oil for a salad dressing later. Place about half of olive salad in the hollowed out, bottom bread. Do not spread to edges, leave the border clean for easier serving.
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Layer on first lettuce then tomato, then cheeses and then meats, in that order. Spoon a mound of olive salad as the final layer on top of meats and cover with top half of bread.
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Wrap sandwich in Saran Wrap, then place in between two flat pans, plates or cutting boards. Place an iron skillet or something heavy on top to provide weight in order to press the sandwich.
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Refrigerate while weighted down for half the day or overnight.
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To serve, unwrap and cut into small slices. It is very filling!
Cook’s Notes
-The muffaletta is made for travel and only gets better the longer it sits chilling, which makes it a go-to for a day on the boat or a day spent at the beach. It’s ready to slice and serve straight from your cooler.
The Bread
Although I am sure this is blasphemous to even suggest, you can make this sandwich on French bread or baguette. (You won’t miss the sesame seeds.)
The Meats
Traditionally, a muffaletta has Genoa salami, ham and/or mortadella, an Italian luncheon meat made from pork sausage. Whatever you choose, purchase from a deli and ask it to be sliced very thinly.
The Cheese
Some say Provolone and Swiss, some Provolone and Mozzarella — the choice is yours. Whatever you choose, thinly sliced from a deli is best.
The Lettuce and Tomato
It is hard to beat cold, shredded iceberg lettuce for this sandwich. Iceberg gets a bad rap, but it the perfect lettuce for sandwiches thanks to its crispness and mild flavor. I am a proponent of peeling and de-seeding tomatoes and in the case of preparing this sandwich, I remain steadfast. The watery, seedy pockets of tomatoes are just that: watery and seedy. They offer nothing but moisture, which is the last thing you want for your sandwich. So even if you choose not to peel, consider de-seeding. (See here for more information and an easy how-to.)
The Vegetarian Muffaletta
Yes, it exists. I’ve had it and love it! You can obviously omit the meat (and increase the cheese slices) and call it vegetarian, but there are other ways to prepare this for your favorite herbivore. You can add chickpeas to the olive salad, as well as chopped artichoke hearts and other finely chopped vegetables. Increase the liquids and seasonings as needed to keep everything covered in the marinade. You can cook and crumble tempeh or other vegetarian protein and add it to the olive salad as well.
The Hot Muffaletta
This is simply a preference: Do you like your muffaletta heated or not? Napoleon House, in a building nearly 250 years old, is one of the oldest bars/eateries in New Orleans and also has Italian immigrant history. Joseph Impastato opened his Italian-American grocery store on this site in 1914. Today, Napoleon House serves their muffalettas hot, claiming to be the first to introduce hot muffalettas, using the following method: Construct your sandwich and lightly brush oil on top of bread. Wrap completely in aluminum foil and bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.
The actual, original muffuletta recipe ingredients, from Central Grocery
Ingredients
Olive salad:
1 lb pimento stuffed green olives
1 lb black olives
4 pickled onions
2 large pepperoncini, drained and left whole
4 tbsp capers
1 head minced garlic
3 tsp oregano
1 qt. pickled cauliflower, drained and sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
Mixture of olive oil and canola
Sandwich Ingredients:
Italian round bread
Olive salad
1/4 lb each: mortadella, ham and hard Genoa salami
1/4 lb each: Mozzarella and Provolone cheese
Optional: lettuce and tomato
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