North Carolina Muffaletta with Bruce Julian Heritage Foods | #HomeGrownFare17
These individual North Carolina Muffaletta sandwiches sing with the flavor of pickled vegetable salad. Make them the night before and weight them down in the fridge so the dressing has a chance to soak into the bread.
3cupsfairly finely chopped mixed pickled vegetables(I used a combination of Bruce Julian Sassy Vegetables: Spicy Green Beans, Spicy Brussels Sprouts, and Pickled Asparagus)
½cupchopped white onion
¼cupjarred sliced pimento(1 4 oz jar)
¼cupof the pickling liquid
¼cupextra virgin olive oil
1teaspoonBruce Julian Southern Mojo Seasoning
several shakes Bruce Julian Picante Pepper Sauce
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the Sandwiches
6round sandwich buns, preferably with sesame seeds
3cupspickled vegetable salad
12slicesprovolone or Swiss cheese
6slicesmozzarella cheese
18thin slices of mortadella with pistachios(usually available from the deli counter)
12-18sliceshard salami and/or Genoa salami
12-18slicesdeli ham
Instructions
To Make the Vegetable Salad
Put all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and stir well.
Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to marry.
To Make the Sandwiches
Slice each roll in half horizontally
Spread about 1/4 cup vegetable salad on each side of the buns.
Top the salad with a slice of provolone or Swiss cheese.
Add a slice of mozzarella on top of the provolone or Swiss.
Layer on 3 slices of mortadella per sandwich, followed by 2-3 slices of salami and 2-3 slices of ham.
Place the top bun (with salad and cheese) on top of the sandwich.
Press down to compact and then wrap tightly in cling film.
Place all the sandwiches on a tray and place another tray on top. Use some cans to weigh the top tray down, and refrigerate the sandwiches over night or up to 5 days.
To Serve
Some people like their muffaletta sandwiches heated through. If this sound good to you, remove the cling film and wrap each sandwich in foil. Heat for about 10 minutes in a 350F.
Other people say the bread should be warm, the cheese somewhat melted, and the meat still cold. I've found that unwrapping them and heating them in the toaster oven for just over 4 minutes does the trick for me. There is a third group of people that say a muffaletta should be served at room temperature. In that case, just remove the sandwiches from the fridge a good hour or 1 1/2 hours before eating. Any way you choose to serve them, do make yourself a Bruce Julian Bloody Mary to go with!
Enjoy!
Notes
Obviously, prep time does not include the time for the salad to mature in the fridge or to press the sandwich.