I believe it is now time to finally take on the competition. I, Kitchen Belleicious, challenge you, Bobby Flay, to a Muffaletta Throwdown. My home or yours, my Muffaletta recipe can’t be beat.
Let’s just pretend how awesome that would actually be if I got to have a throw down with Bobby Flay. I believe my recipe is hands down amazing but in all honesty I would be a little terrified to go up against the great Flay. Nonetheless, I am here to put your mind at ease and finally present you with what I know you have been waiting for from me the past 2 years- A Muffaletta Recipe. Am I right? Okay, just humor me!
If you are from the South, you have had at some point in your life some version of a Muffaletta. Even if you hate to admit it- you have! People all over the South have taken this classic New Orleans dish and turned it into a pasta, pizza and even soup. Although those three dishes sound fantastic I still heart the good old fashioned classic version of a Muffaletta served sandwich style. However, I can’t do anything without adding my own rendition so after 3 years of attempting to create the ultimate Muffaletta I believe I have finally succeeded.
Drum roll please…. Let me introduce you to my recipe. Lightly buttered French bread toasted not fried with layers of ham, salami and cheese and topped off with a mouth watering blend of spicy pickled vegetables, Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. The uniqueness comes with what goes in the olive spread painted on both sides of the bread. Feel free to use different ingredients other than my own but whatever you do don’t forget to include olives. You just got to have the olives! Now there are of course a few other ingredients thrown in the mix but those are the most important ones. These ingredients are the ones that will leave you breathless thinking where has this sandwich been all my life. The last and final kicker to the sandwich- slow cooking it. After a quick toasting of the bread in the beginning, the final sandwich is wrapped tightly in foil and slow cooked in the oven at 170 for 3-4 hours. Yep, 3-4 hours. You can beat this! You just can’t beat this sandwich.
Flay are you ready for a throw down?
- 2 jars of mixed pickled vegetables
- 1 cup of chopped olives
- ½ cup of roasted red pepper strips
- 3 TBSP of Olive Oil
- 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp horseradish sauce
- 1 loaf of French bread or bread of your choice
- ½ lb provolone cheese
- ½ lb mozzarella cheese
- ½ lb swiss cheese* optional
- 4 ounces salami
- 4 ounces mortadella or ham
- 4 ounces of capicola
- Mix together the first 6 ingredients and refrigerate for 2 hours. Mix together the mustard and horseradish and spread on the bread. Butter the outside of the bread and toast on low heat until slightly crispy. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cut the bread into 2 layers horizontally. Layer half of the provolone on the bottom half of bread. Then the mozzarella and swiss cheese if you choose. Then the Mortadella, then the Capicola, salami, and the remainder of provolone. Top this with the olive salad mixture we did at the beginning. Put the top half of the bread on and press it down. Wrap in foil tightly and place on a baking sheet. Sometimes I even place a brick wrapped in foil on top to really get those flavors soaked into all the parts of the bread. Bake at 170 for 3-4 hours or 250 for 1-2 hours.
Let’s open a deli–you and me! My reuben and your muffaletta!! We’ll need at least two employees just to take the money to the bank!! You’ve got my vote though, in all honesty, I’d love to be served a sandwich by Bobby Flay–and you, of course.
Best,
Bonnie
I’m in! When do we get started!
This looks wonderful! I bet your is the best! And your boys look adorable!
YES! I think a throw down would be awesome! Bobby is totally intimidating. What a fabulous looking muffaletta. i bet the bread makes all the difference
I’ve only eaten a muffaletta once, nd yours would put it to shame. You would totally win a Throw Down!
Thanks Ali! I take that as a compliment coming from you:)
Oh dear Lord, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven. That is the most divine looking ‘samich’ I’ve ever seen in my life! =) I want that in muh mouth and muh belleeee!! =)
Btw, I think you could take Bobby for a run for his money!! 😉
This sounds unique and awesome, I have never heard of this and would love to try. I suppose slow cooking the bread would really tenderise it, fall off the bone tender:)
This is my third and final attempt to tell you how blown away I am by this sandwich. My computer is misbehaving badly. Not your problem. In any case, brava to you. BTW, isn’t mortadella a meat with olives? Or is there a cheese version of it? I will only see your reply at scrout1944@msn.com
I vote for YOU!!! This looks incredible..especially that second shot with the melted cheese….
Hi There,
The Muffaletta cudnt look better than this. loved the addition of olives. Have a good day…cheers, sonia
Sadly I’ve never had Muffaletta before, but it looks damn good to me and good enough to beat up Flay with! 😉
This looks awesome and baking it?! Love it! Question though. Mortadella is a meat, right? Also, you have Olandi mentioned in the preparations but not in the list of ingredients. What is it and how much of it?
slow cooked for 6 hours?? wow!! … that is one serious sandwich!! i typically make giada’s muffaletta, but now i am dyin’ to try this one! you are so inspiring :).
I say its time that Bobby Flay take you on! I think your muffaletta rocks. Awesome.
Cheers to you.
Velva
P.S. my husband would go nuts for a sandwich like this one. Delicious.
This looks fantastic! I’ll take 2 please. YUM!
I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never had one…. but it looks easy enough that I could probably do it!
Oh my goodness – YOU are going to win!! that sandwich looks simply amazing!
Mary x
This sandwich sound delicious and all of those olives definitely make it! In the description, you mentioned 6 hours at 200, but then in the printable recipe, I see instructions for 1-4 hours… Either way, that is some serious cooking time! I wonder if this would work, wrapped in foil like you have it, but in the crockpot on low all day?
So sorry about the confusion.I fixed it as soon as I saw this comment. This is what i get for multi-tasking! See the corrected version above!
I’d never tasted a muffaletta until I was 22 years old. Your sandwich looks delicious!
I like the second photograph….. really tempting 🙂
That muffaletta looks amazing!
This looks awesome! I love muffalettas so much!
oh YUM and YEAH, I found you again!! We love muffaletas around here! I changed to wordpress not too long agao and lost everything! anne of anniebakes.net
Wow…I think you would beat Bobby with your muffaletta. I think it is a real winner.
This looks delicious! I’m sure Bobby Flay would have a hard time beating it too!
I think you can def throw down, thats for sure! This is so much better than Johnny’s Muffaletta. With spring and summer I love sandwiches. This cant be beat and will make asap
Just looking at those layers of building your Muffaletta sandwich makes me so very hungry —its good enough to beat any sandwich from Bobby Flay:)
layer upon layer of flavor, bobby would be scared!!
I L-O-V-E this recipe. WOW! I bet you would win hands down. Bobby, come and get it, because Jessica is going to TAKE YOU DOWN!
This is my husband’s favorite kind of sandwich! He would love this!
OH MY! Jessica you have seriously got me drooling. I’m going to have to make this within the next week lest I start eating my computer. Delicious!!! 🙂
Is it just me (again) that I am not familiar with this recipe? OMG, Bake for 3-4 hours! You are right that already tells you how goooooood this is. I need to visit South one day to experience whole new food culture. I’m becoming all Californian and this is what I know American food…. NOT! But really, your blog has been educating me a lot about Southern food and I’m loving your blog very much. By the time I visit, I should be all prepared. 😉
Bobby Flay doesn’t stand a chance against this! May I please order one for breakfast, lunch and dinner…
🙂 Mandy
That ooey gooey cheese is making me seriously crave one of these!
omg! i’m sold !! one of the best looking sandwich i’ve seen!! if i stay next to you, you’ll be a very busy woman, i’ll come knocking at your door all the time!!
This looks fabulous. I had my first muffaletta on Royal down in the Quarter with my brother who lived in NO many years ago. I still remember it although I have had many of these yummy sandwiches since. Yours lookss memorable!
Gorgeous! Have wanted to try this since our trip to NOLA last year. Thanks for the great recipe!
Love mufalettas and this one looks awesome!
hungry!
Your Muffaletta looks perfect, Jessica! I guess even Bobby Flay will find this drool worthy!
Okay this is another one of your recipes that just looks amazing! You always have me needing to go to the store for more ingredients!!
YUM! I made muffaletta sandwiches for my daughters outdoors wedding reception. I can’t wait to make these, love those flavors!
This looks absolutely delicious! I haven’t tried it yet but I’ve read and seen pictures…I might just give this sandwich a try. Love the second picture with gooey cheese 🙂
love that gooey cheese coming out from the bun.
Bobby Flay, eat your heart out!! Your Muffaletta looks incredibly delicious! I have never heard of Mufffaletta before, and now wishing I could have one right now! Drooling…..!!!!
Gorgeous looking Muffaletta! Absolutely drool inducing.
Oh wow… you’ve got me drooling on my keyboard! No kidding… LOVE that picture with all that oozy cheese! I want one of these NOW!
Oooh never had Muffaletta before, definitely a new dish to me, but looks absolutely tempting!Have to try more of these Southern Dishes :)Living in the NJ, I have to now look for some really good Southern restaurants here 🙂 Love the ingredients and the layers and that melted cheese, oh my!
you would love this soni! It might be a southern dish but it would make anyone happy!
I think I’m going to stare at this pic for about 20 minutes or until I run to the store and buy the ingredients.
Thanks for stopping by my space, I would love to share my St Patty’s day food with you anytime:)
So nice of you to leave that nice message for me… challenge a throwdown with Bobby Flay and I’m sure you’ll win!!!
Oh gosh, I dream to do a throwdown with Bobby, that would be incredible! Pretty sure your sandwich would beat his. 😉 It sounds fabulous. I actually kind of met Bobby at a work event once, but only told him where his room was located. I was too scared to say something to the effect of, oh I idolize you, I’ve made numerous recipes of yours, blah blah haha. Didn’t want to freak him out? 😉
This looks terrific! I’m book marking this for when I entertain my husbands friends! Hope you are having a great week!
He he he so cute ! I truly hope Bobby Flay gets the message and please call me when there is a throw down so that I could eat this and scream your name at the top of my voice lol lol . Oh yeah I can do that 🙂
I haven’t had one but looking at it makes me drool!! Layers and layers.. with olive, ham and all sorts of cheese! on crusty bun? yes pls!
Not for nothing, and I;m not just saying this, I think you can take Bobby Flay with this. I love his cooking.. but seriously think you got him beat with this. Delicious
Ha! Fear not Bobby Flay! You could best him in a muffaleta throw-down, easy-peasy!
Thank you! I will let you be one of the judges! LOL!
the melted cheese in the second picture is a killer Jessica!
I’ve never heard of muffaletta — but that does look delish!!!
Your Muffaletta is a little untraditional compared to the Central Grocery on Decatur but very good because you have enhanced it not changed it. I wouldn’t want to wait that long while it “bakes” though. cm
Bobby Flay did a Muffaletta throwdown in the Crescent City and lost because he strayed too far from tradition, which is important down there.
Great post KBelle
Thanks Anthony! I didn;t want to stray for away but wanted to put my own spin on it. true- its hard to wait for it to bake but so worth it in the end!
Love your muffuletta and it would be amazing to have a throw-down with Bobby Flay!
Wow, you definitely have my vote. This looks amazing.