1 Sandwich...feeds many

The ultimate tailgate food is a big, hearty, bigger than your head, melt in your mouth, wake up your tastebuds, made a day ahead, MUFALETTA.

It is by far the easiest way to tailgate..one sandwich, cooler of beer, done...plenty of time for face painting at your tailgate! With Fall on the horizon and football in full gear but the weather still warm enough to fire up the grill (or oven) this is the perfect tailgating food.  Make it this weekend and then break out the recipe again in November....your friends will appreciate your mad cooking skills when you bring this to your tailgate party!

This sandwich calls for some amazing meats from the deli....be sure to have them slice everything thin and be sure to stick to the recipe.  If you have never had Mortadella or Capacolla (or Hot Cappi) get it, try it, you are in for a treat!  If you are in a hurry, click the link below and watch me assemble this sandwich (only 3 minutes) and opt for a jar of olive salad instead of making your own.

1 large round loaf of bread                                 

       (sourdough, white mountain, Italian)

1 lb Provolone Cheese, sliced thin

½ lb Hard Salami, sliced thin

½ lb Smoked Ham, sliced thin

½ lb Mortadella, sliced thin

½ lb Cappacolla, sliced thin 

        (can sub, Hot Cappy)

I use Boar’s Head meats and cheeses

Olive Salad to top bread

½ cup olive oil

2 T balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic

½ cup pimento stuffed green olives

½ cup kalamata olives (pitted, can be sliced)

2 ribs of celery cut in chunks

½ small red onion

Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley

A few cracks of freshly ground pepper

Combine olive oil and vinegar with black pepper in a large bowl, wisk to combine.

Add red onion, celery and garlic to a food processor and pulse a few times, add all other ingredients and pulse a few more times. 

Add to olive oil mixture, toss to coat.  Cover and refrigerate. 

Best if made a day in advance to allow flavors to combine.

Muffaletta

Cut bread horizontally in half and scoop out some of the bread from both the top and bottom to make room for your olive salad.

Put a layer of olive salad in bottom scooped out bread.

Top with a layer of provolone, salami, ham, mortaella, cappacolla and finish with another layer of provolone.

Add a layer of olive salad to the top scooped out bread as well.

Close your sandwich and wrap in aluminum. 

Bake in the oven or heat on a warm grill to lightly melt the cheese.

To serve slice into large wedges and enjoy!

I always have enough meat and olive salad for 2 huge muffalettas!

Click here to watch me cook this dish

Click here for a Printer Friendly Version