by pierino
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A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand Collapsepierino's Notes:
Expand½ cup Spanish pimento olives Ask a question about this ingredient
½ cup pitted black olives (kalamatas work fine) Ask a question about this ingredient
4-6 cornichons Ask a question about this ingredient
2 cloves garlic (see note below) Ask a question about this ingredient
2 tsps dried Italian oregano Ask a question about this ingredient
½ cup extra virgin olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient
2 tbs red wine vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient
¼ tsp ground black pepper Ask a question about this ingredient
1 six ounce, crusty Italian roll, Ask a question about this ingredient
¼ pound thinly sliced capicola (as the name suggests, this is most often made from pig neck) Ask a question about this ingredient
¼ pound thinly sliced premium cooked or cured ham (even prosciutto or jamon Serrano) Ask a question about this ingredient
¼ pound sliced provolone cheese Ask a question about this ingredient
A little creole mustard Ask a question about this ingredient
It’s easy to make the olive salad in the bowl of a food processor using the olives, cornichons, garlic, oregano, olive oil, vinegar, and black pepper. Give everything a few quick pulses. It should remain a bit chunky---somewhat more coarse than a tapenade.
Ask a question about this stepSpoon the olive salad into a non-reactive bowl and cover with cling wrap. It should then go into the refrigerator to rest for a 5 to 8 hours, and will keep overnight.
Ask a question about this stepTo assemble, use a sharp bread knife to divide the loaf into two halves horizontally like a giant hamburger bun. Smear some mustard on the bottom half and top with ham, capicola, provolone and generous amount of olive salad. Cover with the top portion and divide into halves or quarters. Bring napkins.
Ask a question about this stepNotes to the cook: for the garlic I use a “garlic confit” that I learned from Thomas Keller’s BOUCHON cookbook. What that consists of is about 40 peeled cloves of garlic covered in canola oil and poached for about forty minutes---a flame tamer is advised. Store the garlic and oil in a sealed container in the refrigerator. After a few days the oil will be highly perfumed. I think the little Corsican would like that touch. It’s handy to have on hand and you can add a little of the oil to the salad. Otherwise use fresh garlic cloves.
Ask a question about this stepThe cornichon included in the olive salad is untraditional but one of my New Orleans friends really liked it, so I think it really works. Don't be stingy with the olive salad.
Ask a question about this stepHow large an army does the olive salad serve? I.e., how many sandwiches can you make with the recipe for olive salad that you've provided? Thanks!! ;o)
There should be enough olive salad here for two large muffalettas. And usually one half sandwich will satisfy one hungry person. So this realistically will serve four. But the recipe for salad portion can be doubled. And thank you!
I love a good muffaletta, and this olive salad sounds very, very good....will be trying it!
Really nice, Pierino. I can still remember, vividly, the taste of a muffalatta had the last time I was in New Orleans. I like the addition of cornichons. The round Italian bread is key because (a) all the pockets of air in the dough catch and hold the olive salad so well, and (ii) the round edges do a nice job of preventing too much of the olive salad from getting away. When I make muffaletta, I always put the olive salad on the bottom half, for that reason. I also add a big handful of Italian parsley, because it makes the salad and the meat taste better, in my opinion. ;o) P.S. Had never considered literally "capocolla." Nice bit of knowledge there.
This is a makeover of a muffaletta that I submitted previously. Tweaked a few things, but it really is a pork sandwich. Not so long ago, a local place here why live was serving muffalettas on baguttes; which wasn't so bad at first. But then the meat portions began to shrink and the olive salad turned into this tiny smear. I called 'em out on it. This is a BIG sandwich, we should halve or quarter and the olive salad should come sliding out the sides.
Eugenia is the author of the book Well-Preserved and writes about homemade food preservation for the Denver Post's Well-Preserved blog.
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This recipe is perfect, I had muffaletta in New Orleans I fell in love. Yours sounds right on the money.