SANDWICH WEEK - MUFFULETTA!

I love these sandwiches. The olive salad compliments the deli meats and cheese so well, it's like have an antipasto sandwich. I do not like mortadella so I just add more of the other meats. Those fat globules in mortadella - yuk! Now to save time you could buy muffuletta spread, but this recipe is so much better. It also calls for letting the whole sandwich refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight so plan ahead. The muffuletta olive salad recipe comes from The Central Grocery in New Orleans who has made this sandwich FAMOUS! Ingredients: 1-1/4 cup coarsely chopped cauliflower florets 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/2 tsp dried thyme 2 small carrots roughly chopped 2 small celery stalks thinly sliced 3/4 cup chopped pitted green nicoise olives 1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers 1/4 cup drained jarred banana peppers sliced 2 tbl red wine vinegar salt pepper 1 (8"-10") round Italian loaf of bread 6 oz thinly sliced deli ham 6 oz thinly sliced Genoa salami 6 oz thinly sliced mortadella 6 oz thinly sliced provolone In sauce pan, bring cauliflower, oil, oregano, thyme, carrots, celery and 3 tbl water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer until vegetables are tender about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in olives, peppers, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Let cool. Cut the loaf in half and hollow out some of the bread on both sides. Spread the olive salad over the bottom half. Layer ham, salami, mortadella and cheese over the salad. Then top with remaining salad and top of the loaf. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours to overnight. Cut into quarters and serve. A meal in itself. DIVINE! ENJOY!