Muffuletta

 

My take on the Italian/American Speciality from New Orleans.
I only did it once so far, and we liked it. But I am going to change a few things, making it less "original". For instance, we missed tomatoes.

Attention! This has to be done one day in advance! The muffuletta then goes one day into the fridge.

Preparation You'll need: A bowl with lid out of glass or caramic A large bowl for the dough
Ingredients for the Muffuletta itself (for 2 persons) 180 mL warm water 15 g yeast some icing sugar 180 g standard flour 90 g bread flour (I took French T65) 1½ tsp salt 20 g lard (I took Griebenschmalz, German lard with crispy pieces of pork skin) 1 Tbsp sesame seeds 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 egg (one only needs a little bit, so if you do more dough for four persons, one egg will still be enough) 1 Tbsp cold water
Ingredients for the filling (for 2 persons) 60 g pimento-stuffed green olives 30 g Kalamata olives 2 cloves of garlic 1 Tbsp capers 1 Tbsp of celery stalk 1 Tbsp of carrot 30 g pepperoncini 15 g marinated cocktail onions ½ tsp dried oregano 1 Tbsp fresh basil ½ tsp ground black pepper 75 mL olive oil 25 mL sunflower oil 80 g Genoa salami (or a real Italian salami, out of beef or beef and pork mixed), thin slices, could have pepper corns inside 80 g cooked Italian ham, thin slices 80 g Mortadella, thin slices 70 g Mozzarella, sliced (alternative: Edamer) 70 g Gruyere, sliced (Original version: Provolone) 2 medium sized ripe tomatoes, sliced (Original version: no tomatoes, but 20 g of chopped pickled cauliflower)
Preparation of the olive salad (4 to 5 hours before assembling the sandwich) Chop the green olives, remove the seeds of the kalamata olives, chop them, too. Add the capers, pepperoncini and the cocktail onions, chop again. Dry of that mass with kitchen paper (or the bread with get too wet). Add to the bowl. Add oregano (½ tsp), cloves of garlic (2-3, chopped), celery stalk and carrot (1 Tbsp ea., cut small), basil (1 Tbsp, chopped), ground pepper (½ tsp), red wine vinegar (30 mL), olive oil (90 mL) and sunflower oil (50 mL) and mix well. Cover with lid and place in fridge.
Preparation of the dough (ca. 3 hours before assembling the sandwich) Give the flour (180 g and 90 g), salt (1½ tsp) and lard (20 g) into the large bowl. Mix, press a dent into it. Into that give the yeast (15 g), some icing sugar and a bit of the warm water. Put 15 minutes on the side. Mix again, the pour in several steps the rest of the water while kneading the dough, until the dough comes together. Then strongly knead the dough on a floured work surface for 10 minutes. Form into a ball, coat with olive oil put it aside in the bowl for 1½ hours, losely covered (I always put dough into the oven at 30℃). Take the dough out, knead it again for a short time. Spread some olive oil on a baking try. From a flat round out of the dough, around 1½ centimetres thick, place it on the try. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds (1 Tbsp), press the seeds lightly with your hands into the dough. Place the tray on the side for 1 hour (Oven, 30℃). Prehead the oven at 220℃ (convection). Brush the surface of the flat bread with egg wash (1 eg, 2 Tbsp cold water). Place into the oven and bake it first for 10 minutes at 220℃, then continue for another 20 to 25 minutes at 190℃. When the bread is golden brown, take it out and let it cool down.
Stacking the bread When the bread has cooled, take a large bread knife and cut the bread in half horizontally. Spread half of the olive salad (including the oil) on each of the pieces of bread. Layer the bottom half with half of salami, ham and mortadella. Place on top all of the cheese (Mozzarella and Gruyere). The place on top the rest of the mortadella, ham and salami, in reversed order. Carefully place the upper half on top and wrap it in cling film. Place for at least half a day into the fridge. Just before you want to eat the Muffuletta, preheat the oven at 190℃, then heat up the bread for just 5 minutes - the bread should be nicely warm on the outside, but still cold inside.