Moms Sit Sandwich Aka Squishy Sorta Muffuletta Food

MUFFULETTA (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• For the olive salad, mix everything together. Cover and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
• To make the sandwich: Drain olive salad, saving the marinade. Cut the bread in half horizontally and remove most of the soft interior. Brush both inside pieces of the bread with the reserved marinade.
• Place half of the olive salad in the bottom half of the hollowed-out bread. Top it with the cold cuts. Put on the rest of the olive salad. Put top half of bread on top of it all.
• Wrap in plastic wrap. Put it between two dinner plates. (It might work best to turn the top plate upside down, depending on if the plates have any curvature to them or not.) Put 2 or 3 heavy cans on top of it to work as weights. (Mufuletta is pressed-down sandwich). Chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 6 hours.
• To serve, unwrap and cut into wedges.

MUFFULETTA

Steps:

• Olive Mixture:.
• Mix with celery then totally cover with olive oil, cover and put in fridge while you prepare bread or even the day before to save time.
• Gut bread, drizzle and spread olive oil on both sides, then lightly sprinkle each side with either a balsamic or red wine vinegar. Spread a thin layer of minced garlic on the bread.end to end( everything you do to one side is done for both sides).
• Now spread a generous layer about 2 tablespoons of the celery mixture on each side.
• Now we put the sandwich together -- LOL.
• I am going to list the meats I buy and the amounts. I buy from the deli and have it sliced sandwich thin.
• Makeing The Sandwich:.
• Now begin your layers remember duplicate each side.
• I usually layer 3 different meats then a layer of cheese -- I alternate the 2 cheeses and just sprinkle parmesan at will.
• Then add a thin layer of the celery mix and start all over, making sure to use all the different meats before repeating them, fill both sides completely full making sure they are totally full then add cheese on one layer before putting the 2 sides together. *Make sure you have a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil laid out under the bread, that is big enough to completely wrap the entire sandwich. I slide the 2 sides right next to each other, then carefully flip one on top of the other, then tightly wrap and seal the entire sandwich and place in frig at least 2 hours -- Overnight is even better but 2 hours will do. Then leaving it wrapped put it in a 350 oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, has to heat all the way through and let the cheese melt. Carefully unwrap and make sure it is hot all the way through( if needed rewrap and cook a bit longer) Once it is done let it sit 15-20 minutes, then you can cut into sandwich slices( electric knife works best, or a good serrated edged bread knife) I like my portions cut into 2 inch slices , remember it is a rich sandwich and larger portions tend to fall apart on you. Best served hot, to at least warm and it keeps in frig real well and reheats fairly well in microwave.
• Hope this is easy enough to understand. In New Orleans they just use Italian ham and don't gut and stuff the bread like I do, but I LOVE mine best -- lol.

MUFFULETTA

Steps:

• Drain the giardiniera and olives. Chop coarsely in a food processor.
• Remove to a bowl and add the olive oil, garlic, oregano, ground black pepper, and stir well. Set aside and allow to marinate for one hour.
• Spread 1 tbsp olive salad on each side of the rolls.
• Place 3 slices of pastrami on each roll, followed by three slices of ham and 2 slices of salami.
• Top each roll with 2 slices of cheese and place under a broiler until the cheese has melted and the sandwich is warm. Place the top on the roll and serve immediately.

MOM'S SIT SANDWICH (AKA SQUISHY SORTA MUFFULETTA)

Steps:

• Cut loaf of bread in half horizontally and hollow out the soft bread from both halves, leaving a shell about 3/4-inch thick.
• Reserve soft bread for another use.
• In small bowl, combine artichoke liquid with mayonnaise and spread onto bread shells.
• In bottom half, layer ingredients at least three times until mounded high, beginning and ending with tomatoes.
• Place top half of bread over mound of ingredients.
• Wrap entire loaf tightly with plastic wrap.
• This must be assembled at least 2 hours before serving, but can be assembled up to 8 hours before serving.
• Refrigerate.
• Before serving, place sandwich (wrapped in plastic) on a hard surface and SIT ON IT! This smashes the ingredients together and makes it easier to serve. Do not omit this step, strange as it seems, as this step is what makes the sandwich delicious.
• Slice the loaf into wedges or slices to serve.
• Note: I usually roughly chop the artichoke hearts, myself. Also, regarding the artichoke juice mixture: you can add only half of it to the mayo, if you like - how much of the spread you're going to need depends on the size of loaf you've gotten.
• Note #2: other good additions I've made to the sandwich include strips of roasted red and yellow pepper, whole fresh basil leaves (placed on top of the tomatoes) or pesto into the mayo, pepperoncini and/or sliced sweet red cherry peppers, pancetta, and more salami or other hard sausage than the recipe calls for.
• Note #3: any leftover mayo mixture, by the way, makes a great salad dressing! I once accidentally used the juice from a jar larger than the recipe called for and the mixture was far more than I needed -- so to thicken it up a bit I added a bit of lowfat sour cream, and made the leftover mixture (much to my husband's delight) available as salad dressing. Yum!