Do you ever have foods you got sick of eating as a kid and blatantly ignore? Then years later, find yourself with a rediscovered love for them? For me, that’s sandwiches. And meatloaf. But mostly sandwiches. This muffuletta sandwich is one of those sandwiches reviving me lately.
Now that I’m a living and breathing adult that has her own budget to follow, I absolutely understand where my mother was coming from. She would pack me some kind of sandwich every day for school. Unless it was French toast stick day for hot lunch, because, duh. Yet when I wasn’t dunking those sugary sticks into maple syrup and downing cartons of chocolate milk, I was faced with yet another sandwich in my lunchbox. And I mean, I get it. Sandwiches are super cheap and easy, and my mom was all about pinching those pennies. It’s clearly genetic.
But being a naive child, I didn’t appreciate my mother’s skills for saving money and complained about how much I hated those sandwiches. My mom, being the wonderful woman she is, kindly changed up my lunches. She packed me thermos of mac & cheese (which she would literally cook in the morning before school), peanut butter and crackers, and bagels with cream cheese. If I was kind of feeling like a sandwich, the only thing I would allow to go in my lunchbox was an Uncrustable. Needless to say, sandwiches and I were on a break for a long, long time. And I was obviously a devil child.
Except for the occasional trip to Jimmy John’s or Potbelly, I rarely ever eat sandwiches nowadays. The only kinds of sandwiches I enjoy are pressed paninis or bagel sandwiches. But I never buy bread and cold cuts for my fridge for lunches. It wasn’t until recently (like, in quarantine) that I rediscovered a love for sandwiches, and a particular obsession with the muffuletta sandwich.
What is a muffuletta sandwich?
When you look at the ingredient list for a muffuletta sandwich, you can easily tell that it has an Italian origin. But what you may not know is that the sandwich originates from Italian immigrants in New Orleans.
Typically the muffuletta sandwich is served on Sicilian sesame bread, with particular fillings inside of it. But let’s be honest: give “muffuletta sandwich” a search on Google and you get all kinds of combinations for this sandwich. It’s one of those recipes that people have really made their own. Like pancakes. Or apple crisp.
The key elements needed in a muffuletta sandwich include cured meats, cheese, and olive salad. Olive salad can actually be found in the canned olive section of the grocery store, and you can find them in chunks or diced small (like what I use in the pictures). Both produce the same taste, so when it comes to picking an olive salad, it’s your personal preference.
I’ll let you decide on the roll. Again, as I said, the muffuletta is supposed to be on Sicilian sesame bread. But if you can’t find those, just grab some nice Italian rolls for subs at your grocery store. Or any other type of sandwich roll that suits your fancy. Just make sure it’s an actual roll, not just slices of bread, to get the full experience.
Need more lunch ideas?
Here are a few of my favorites to prep!
- Goddess Arugula Bowl
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Salmon Patties
- Chicken Sausage Sweet Potato Bake
- Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
- Buffalo Chicken Meatball Bowls
I hope this sandwich will change your mind about boring lunch sandwiches in the near future. It obviously did for me!
Muffuletta Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 Italian roll
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- Dash of salt & pepper
- 2 slices ham capicola or smoked
- 4 slices dry-cured salami about 1/2 oz.
- 2 slices provolone cheese
- 2 slices fresh mozzarella
- 1 Tbsp olive salad
Instructions
- Cut the Italian roll in half about 3/4 of the way (do not cut all the way through). Slowly drizzle the olive oil inside both sides of the roll, then add one dash of salt and pepper.
- Fold the slices of ham in half, then add them to the bottom half first.
- Fold the slices of salami in half, then add next.
- Fold the provolone slices in half, then add on top.
- Add the slices of mozzarella on top of the provolone.
- Scoop 1 tablespoon of olive salad and spread on top of the fresh mozzarella.
- Close up the roll and enjoy!
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