Bayou Bakery's Muff-a-lotta Sandwich

DC Dish: Bayou Bakery's David Guas from Metrocurean on Vimeo.

Chef David Guas showed me how to make this quintessentially New Orleans sandwich. Pronunciation and spelling, muffaletta or muffuletta, "depends which side of the river you’re from," says the New Orleans native. At Bayou Bakery, Guas' culinary tribute to his hometown by way of Arlington, they call it "muff-a-lotta."

However you say it, it's damn good. Here's how to make one.

Bayou Bakery's Muff-a-lotta Sandwich
courtesy of chef David Guas

makes one sandwich

1 10-inch round sesame seed Italian loaf (Guas' choice is Leidenheimer cocktail muffaletta rolls)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups olive salad (recipe below), drained and rough chopped
1/2 pound sliced hard salami
1/2 pound sliced cooked ham
12 thin slices provolone

Using a serrated knife, slice the loaf of bread in half horizontally. Scoop out soft bread from both halves, leaving a 1-inch thick shell. (The scooped out bread can be used to make panzanella – bread salad – or discarded.) Brush top and bottom bread shells with olive oil.

Place drained olive salad onto a cutting board. Using a chef’s knife, roughly chop the salad until all of the vegetables are the size of peas. Spoon 1 cup of the chopped olive salad onto the bottom bread shell, and spread evenly. Top with salami, ham, cheese and remaining olive salad. Cover with bread top. Cut crosswise in wedges or quarters. You can also toast or press the whole sandwich in the oven or under a sandwich press.

Olive Salad
courtesy of chef David Guas

3 quarts large green olives, pitted, rinsed once in cold water
3 cups large black olives or Kalamata, pitted, rinsed in cold water
3 cups red onions or shallots, diced
1 cup cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 cup parsley
8 cups olive oil
1 1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup dried oregano

Place the green olives into a food processor and pulse until they have been chopped into small chunks, then set aside. Repeat with the large black olives. Place the pulsed green and black olives into a large mixing bowl. Add the diced onion and garlic to the food processor and pulse until just combined. Then add the carrots and parsley and pulse together until blended. Add the ingredients in the food processor and all remaining ingredients (olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dried oregano) into the mixing bowl with the olives and stir together until blended.