Muffaletta
sandwiches are a New Orleans favorite but unfortunately, are not
friendly to those forced to eat gluten free. The bread is the first
obvious issue but there can also be gluten hiding in the giardiniera. Giardiniera is merely a blend of vegetables soaked in vinegar. It's the vinegar that might sneak in the gluten here.
One of
the goals for this sandwich is to meld all of the flavors without
allowing any one to dominate the others. Fine dicing the vegetables and
spreading out the various meats and cheeses provides a well balanced
flavor. I’ve tried making this with an extra slice of mortadella,
and while still tasty, the sandwich seemed to be too dominated by its
baloney taste. Traditional Italian mortadella is sliced thinner than
is typically found in America which let's them be less overpowering.
Making
muffalettas is an easy three step process. First we make the olive
tapenade the day before. This gives all the flavors a chance to
blend together. We then make the bread on the morning of the day when we want the
sandwich. We could just buy the bread but we haven't found an
appropriate regular bread and gluten free requirements just make this
even more difficult. Finally we build the sandwich about an hour
before we plan to eat them. Waiting an hour isn't necessary but it
gives the olive oil a chance to soak into the bread.
Step
One:
Olive
Tapenade Ingredients:
1
cup Spanish Manzanilla green olives with pimento (Star jar)
½
cup Kalamata black olives (Mezzatta jar)
½
cup pepperoncini (Mezzatta jar)
½
jar giardiniera (need version with GF vinegar)
4
pieces roasted red peppers (Mezzata jar)
1
cup olive oil
garlic
1
shake oregano
Olive
Tapenade Directions:
Crush
and dice the garlic, green olives, and kalamata olives.
Dice
the pepperoncini, giardiniera, and red peppers.
Mix
diced ingredients in bowl, add oregano and olive oil.
Cover
mixture with plastic wrap and let sit in refrigerator for about 24
hours.
Step
Two:
Muffaletta
Bread Ingredients:
Chebe gluten
free foccacia bread
Muffaletta
Bread Directions:
Make
gluten free focaccia bread dough according to directions on the box.
Sprinkle
top of bread dough with sesame seeds
Bake
bread in round cake pan according to box directions
After
it cools, slice the round bread into quarters then split each quarter
in half
Step
Three:
Muffaletta
Sandwich Ingredients:
Olive
Tapenade
Muffaletta
Bread
Provolone
Cheese
Mozzarella
Cheese
Mortadella
Genoa
Salami
Muffaletta
Sandwiches:
Coat
bottom piece of bread with a thick layer of the olive tapenade
Add a
slice of mortadella
Then a
slice of mozzeralla cheese
Followed
by a slice of genoa salami
And
finally a slice of provolone cheese
Gently
squeeze sandwich together
Can be
eaten right away or wrap the sandwich in plastic wrap and let sit for
an hour or two to let oil soak into bread.
Potential
modifications/variations:
Coarse
chop instead of fine dicing
Add
capers to the olive tapenade
Add a
layer of ham to the sandwich
Use
gluten free all purpose bread dough instead of focaccia
Need
method to get sesame seeds to stick better