If you’ve never had muffuletta,
then you are in for a treat – it’s a big sandwich layered with delicious
Italian things like cheese, salami, roasted vegetables, olives and garlic. We
discovered them on our honeymoon in Florence (note – they’re really quite hard
to eat if you’re sitting on the steps of a church without plate or napkins) and
I knew it was something I wanted to recreate when I got home. Then the lovely
chaps at Oloves sent me some of their delicious marinated olives, and the situation
seemed perfect. Whip this up for a scrumptious luncheon or a quick dinner –
note that the quantities aren’t specific, as this is more of a stuff-it-all-in
kind of a recipe.
Ingredients
Mozzarella
Salami
A red pepper
Oloves oregano & chilli olives
A clove of garlic
Olive oil
Ciabatta or focaccia rolls
Makes two big
sandwiches
Start by deseeding the pepper and chopping finely. Crush
the garlic and add both to a frying pan with a splash of olive oil. Fry until
the pepper is nice and soft, then scoop it all out, leaving the oil behind. Finely
chop the olives and mix with the pepper and garlic.
Cut open the rolls and lay cut-side-down in the frying
pan to toast in the delicious garlicky oil. While that’s happening, slice the
mozzarella thickly.
To assemble the sandwich, start with the mozzarella, and
then arrange the salami on top. Spread the pepper and olive mixture on the
salami and then top with the second half of the roll.
Finally, return the sandwiches to the frying pan (you
could wipe it out with kitchen paper first, to save your fingers getting messy
when you pick it up), set the heat to medium and then put a heavy dish on top
(Le Creuset are ideal for the job), for a DIY panini-toaster. Give it a few
minutes to warm everything up and start melting the mozzarella, then slice the sandwiches
and serve straightaway.
