Mufalletta, aka The Best Sandwich Ever

This blog does not in any way aspire to be a recipe blog. Why should it, when there are people like Tammy and The Pioneer Woman in the world?

But, I love you all. And because I love you, I wouldn't do you the disservice of not posting this recipe. Because it is the sandwich that will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

It's called Muffaletta. Let's all go on over to Dictionary.com. Or I will so you don't have to, and I'll post the results:

muf·fu·let·ta

[muhf-uh-let-uh]

–noun

a thick, round sandwich similar to a hero, typically containing ham, salami, and cheeses and topped with an olive salad, a specialty of New Orleans.

When that definition says "similar to a hero," it means "similar to a hero in the way that a superhero is similar to a hero."

Best thing is? You'll eat this sandwich, and your stomach will still be thanking you hours later. For some reason, stomachs love them as much as taste buds do.


Muffaletta

Olive Salad

¾ cup green olives with pimentos, drained

¼ cup Kalamata olives

¼ cup giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetables, found in the grocery store by the olives), drained

4 pepperoncini

½ clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1½ teaspoons chopped fresh basil leaves

black pepper

Sandwich

1 (9- to 10-inch) round loaf bread (I love it with Italian bread, but I'd bet sourdough is great, too)

4 oz. sliced Swiss cheese

4 oz. sliced ham
4 oz. sliced Provolone cheese

4 oz. sliced Genoa salami

1. To make the olive salad, chop the olives, giardiniera, pepperoncini, pickled onions, and garlic. Put it all in a bowl and add the olive oil, oregano, parsley, basil, and black pepper, then stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (it helps the flavors to mingle, :) but if you don't plan ahead enough to wait four hours, it can be done right then) and up to 2 days.

2. Cut the bread in half like a hamburger bun, butter, and broil in the oven until well toasted. (Or you can get a pre-sliced round loaf if you prefer less height on your sandwich. Still toast one side, and put the toasted side on the inside of the sandwich.) Spread the top half with the olive salad. Layer the meats and cheeses on the bottom half. Put the two halves together (good luck with this part!) and serve cold.

You can eat it right then (because, really. Why would you want to wait?), or you can refrigerate it for several hours or overnight. The contents of the olive salad soak into the bread and make it even better over time. I'm not even kidding. You could probably keep it in the fridge longer than a day and it would taste pretty darn heavenly, but I've never tested that theory. Because seriously? How could you leave it there that long?