If you're looking for a last minute dish to add to your Mardi Gras menu, or just want to switch things up during your weekly pizza night, this Muffuletta Stromboli is sure to be a hit! It's full of tangy, zesty, briny, and savory flavors and will give you a taste of New Orleans cuisine in every delicious bite!
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Welcome to March on Holoka Home! It's going to be a busy month here on the blog! We're celebrating holidays, holy days, and the return of the spring season. We're kicking things off today with Mardi Gras, so let the good times roll! It's Fat Tuesday and that means that the Lenten season starts tomorrow. So we're going to stuff our bellies with a fun, New Orleans inspired stromboli before the party ends and Lent begins!
This stromboli is a mashup of the classic sandwich, made popular in the French Quarter, and the Italian stuffed bread, made popular by American pizzerias. It's loaded with the makings of a muffuletta sandwich all layered up and rolled in pizza dough. It's flavorful fusion food that will add a unique twist to your Mardi Gras celebration or upcoming pizza night.
What is Muffuletta?
First, let's talk about the muffuletta sandwich. This sandwich was invented by Italian immigrants in New Orleans. It's made on a large loaf of round, crusty Italian bread - "muffuletta loaf" - and layered with briny olive salad and a variety of sliced Italian cured meats.
Traditionally, the muffuletta sandwich is made with layers of salami, mortadella, and ham. But these Italian meats can also be used for muffuletta:
- Capicola
- Prosciutto
- Pepperoni
- Soppressata
Muffuletta sandwiches are also made with a combination of mozzarella and provolone cheeses. In a pinch, Swiss cheese can also be used.
How to Make a Muffuletta Stromboli
Stromboli is super easy to make! You can use homemade pizza dough or grab a ball of dough from the grocery store. You also don't need to visit an Italian market to get these meats. Your local grocery store should have them in their deli section. If you're into savory, salty, bold, and briny flavors, you're gonna love this recipe!
The hardest part of this stromboli recipe is chopping up the ingredients for the olive salad. But it's so worth it! I could honestly just eat the salad alone with a spoon. It would also be really good on crackers!
But today, we're going to use it as part of our muffuletta stromboli. So chop the green olives, black olives, giardiniera, and roasted red peppers. Then, in a bowl, mix the chopped ingredients, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and thyme. Set it aside in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Once the olive salad has marinated, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Then, roll the pizza dough into a large rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Make sure it's stretched out so it's about 12"x16" in size.
Now that the dough is rolled out, you can start layering Spread a good portion of olive salad over the dough. Make sure to leave about an inch border around the edges.
Then, layer the sliced salami, mortadella, ham, provolone, and mozzarella evenly over the olive salad.
We're going to start rolling the dough up. So grab one of the long sides of the dough and tightly roll it up into a log. Fold the ends under the log and pinch the seams together to seal shut.
Carefully transfer the stromboli to the prepared baking sheet. Then, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake the stromboli for about 30 minutes, or until it's golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.
Once the stromboli has cooled, slice the stromboli into thick slices and serve warm.
Muffuletta Stromboli
Equipment
- 1 large baking sheet
Ingredients
For the olive salad:
- 1 cup Castelvetrano olives chopped
- 1 cup black olives chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers chopped
- 1/4 cup giardiniera chopped
- 2 tbsps. capers chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsps. red vinegar
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. garlic minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the stromboli:
- 1 store bought pizza dough room temperature
- 4 slices salami
- 4 slices mortadella
- 4 slices deli ham
- 4 slices provolone cheese
- 8 slices mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg beaten + splash of water for egg wash
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add the green and black olives, roasted red peppers, giardiniera, capers, olive oil, vinegar, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper to a small mixing bowl. Mix and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour. The longer, the better.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Stretch into a large rectangle, about 12x16 inches.
- Spread a good portion of the olive salad over the surface of the dough. Leave a 1 inch border around the edges.
- Layer the meats and cheeses over the olive salad.
- Roll the dough into a log starting at one long edge of the dough. Tuck the ends underneath the dough and pinch the seam together to seal.
- Carefully place the stromboli onto the prepared baking sheet, seam-side-down. Then, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until stromboli is golden brown on the outside and cheeses have melted inside.
- Allow stromboli to cool 10 minutes before serving. Then, slice into thick slices and enjoy warm.
Want to add a Mardi Gras inspired dessert to your menu? Try this Mardi Gras King Cake Monkey Bread! It's pretty darn delicious and easy to make with refrigerated cinnamon rolls and pecan, orange, and bourbon flavors.
Did you make this Muffuletta Stromboli recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!
