Muffuletta Olive Salad

My favorite recipes are the ones that can pull double duty. Like this tasty olive spread with black and green olives, capers, roasted bell peppers, garlic and artichokes. Yes, it’s the same muffuletta olive salad you get on that famous New Orleans sandwich, but this blend also makes a great olive dip for snacking. How will you use it? 

I adapted this recipe from Chef John Folse’ cookbook, The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine. This tome to regional Louisiana ingredients, flavors and cooking styles,  weighs at least 12 pounds (not an exaggeration). It’s stuffed with cuisine that’s highfalutin’ enough for very respectable company as well as simple homey dishes with a Cajun kick, Creole recipes that will make you homesick for the bayou and every kickin’ dish New Orleans is famous for. Muffuletta sandwiches included.

Ingredients for Muffuletta Olive Salad:

• Roasted Red Bell Pepper
• Black Olives
• Green Olives
• Capers
• Cocktail Onions
• Celery
• Artichoke Hearts
• Celery Seed
• Dried Oregano
• Fresh Garlic
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Olive Oil

How To Make Olive Dip

1. Roast a red pepper in the oven with the skins on until the outside is blistered and blackened and the flesh is soft.
2. Peel and seed the pepper and transfer to a food processor
3. Roughly chop the celery stalk and add it to the food processor.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to form a chunky olive spread.

Marinate Olive Spread Overnight

I get it. Part of the reason this recipe is so great is because it takes seconds to whiz together in the food processor.  Waiting to eat it seems like a cruel joke. So I’ll let you off the hook and let you dive right in, however, if you want those flavors to intensify and get just a little deeper, cover and refrigerate it overnight. Food for thought.

History of Muffuletta Olive Salad

Muffuletta olive spread originated from humble beginnings, like so many good things do, when Italian merchants scraped the bottom of the olive barrels to get the broken or crushed olives that weren’t marketable and instead used them to make a salad to top their now famous sandwich.

Ideas For Olive Dip/Olive Spread

Bread Bowl & Olive Dip

• Cut the top off of a bread boule. Use a serrated knife to hollow out the insides of the boule and remove the bread pieces in large chunks.  Cut or tear the bread into chunks. Place the boule on a serving tray and fill it with the olive dip.  Arrange the torn bread chunks around the boule. Insert a serving spoon into the olive salad and serve as an hors d’oeuvre.

Olive Spread As A Topping

• Spoon over  a piece of grilled chicken or fish.
• Spread toasted crostini with goat cheese and top with the olive spread.

In A Marinara Sauce:

• Add a cup of salad to 4 cups of marinara sauce along with some finely diced anchovies and a little more crushed red pepper flakes. Simmer the sauce on a low heat for about an hour until the flavors come together for an easy puttanesca sauce with pasta.

In A Pasta Salad:

• Cook bowtie pasta according to package directions. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Add chunks of pepperoni, mozzarella and baby spinach or small broccoli florets along with a cup of the olive dip. Toss and serve as a side dish at your next cookout.

Muffuletta Sandwich

• Of course, you’re going to want this in a traditional muffuletta sandwich too.