Serves a Crowd

Slab Muffuletta

February  4, 2018
3.7
6 Ratings
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Serves a crowd
Author Notes

Instead of the traditional round loaf, this muffuletta employs an 18- by 13-inch sheet pan of olive oily, salty focaccia. We used Saltie's recipe—but use whichever you like best. You can bake it a day before you build the sandwich; just wrap tightly in plastic or foil.

Featured In: This Oversized Focaccia Muffuletta Is Ready for Mardi GrasEmma Laperruque

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Ingredients
  • 1 sheet pan focaccia (see note)
  • 6 tablespoons finely chopped castelvetrano olives (or other green olives)
  • 6 tablespoons finely chopped oil-cured black olives (or other black olives)
  • 6 tablespoons finely chopped roasted bell peppers
  • 3 stalks celery, roughly chopped, plus any leaves that might be attached
  • 3 tablespoons drained capers
  • 3/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 1 pound sliced capicola
  • 1 pound sliced soppressata
  • 1 pound sliced mortadella
  • 1 pound sliced provolone
Directions
  1. Make the olive spread. Combine the olives, roasted peppers, celery, capers, parsley, olive oil, vinegar, and oregano in a bowl. Season with salt to taste.
  2. Build the muffaletta. Cut the focaccia in half (so you have two 9 x 13 pieces). Now halve each piece horizontally—a big serrated knife and a slow, sawing motion works best here. Flip the 4 pieces over, so the fluffy interior is facing up. Spread the olive mixture evenly over each. On 1 bottom piece, layer half the meat and cheese in this order: capicola, soppressata, mortadella, provolone. Repeat with the other bottom piece. Cap both with the remaining 2 pieces.
  3. Wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic or foil. Place onto a sheet pan and top with another sheet pan. Load up the top sheet pan with some cans or jars. Weigh down for at least 1 hour (at room temperature) or up to 12 hours (in the fridge).
  4. When ready to serve, cut each half into 8 to 16 pieces (so, 16 to 32 total) and arrange together to reflect the original, slab focaccia shape.

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Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.

7 Reviews

Carolilas August 7, 2018
Made as directed except replaced capicollo and mortadella with ham and porchetta. Delicious! Ate it cold at a picnic. Next day, I put the leftovers under the broiler to toast the focaccia.
Kevin F. April 9, 2018
Made according to the recipe, including the recipe for Saltie's Focaccia. Only "modification" was that I went to 1.25 pounds of meat / cheese vs the one pound called for in the recipe. It was excellent and quite a crowd pleaser.
scoot87501 February 11, 2018
I make a large batch of olive spread and use it to toss with pasta-absolutely delicious!
rox L. February 9, 2018
Another fun and delicious thing to do with your muffuletta mix is a pizza; fresh pizza dough, olive oil, muffuletta mixture, maybe a small bit of provolone but not necessary; and bake to crispy edges. Outstanding!
Juliebell February 11, 2018
Thanks! That’s a great idea!
Big P. February 7, 2018
A lil' anchovy, or garlic? May be better to let the meats/cheese and olives really sing, as this sandwich certainly does. And whoa, Mardi Gras is nigh upon us!
Emma L. February 8, 2018
Always pro anchovy and garlic!