A simplified turkey muffuletta with salty olive salad, smoky roasted turkey, and melty provolone cheese on a flaky olive focaccia bread.
One of my favorite parts about growing up in Texas is the huge mix of different culinary traditions. We’ve got tons of BBQ, Tex-Mex, traditional Mexican, Soul Food, Comfort Food, and “Southern” food, but also pockets of German, Vietnamese, Chinese, Czech, Cajun, and Creole. It wasn’t until I moved to Colorado that I began to appreciate some of the foods I took for granted as being common.
I remember the first time I mentioned a muffuletta to a Colorado friend and suggested we go eat them for lunch. She thought I was talking about something from The Muppets Movie. Then I started trying to describe it and ran into all sorts of issues trying to explain olive salad and muffuletta bread. There really isn’t anything like a muffuletta anywhere else in the world. (Though there really should be! This is the best sandwich ever!)
A traditional muffuletta is both a type of round, light, Sicilian bread as well as a sandwich topped with olive salad, mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone. It originated in New Orleans at an Italian-American Grocery store called Central Grocery. One of my favorite places to get them growing up was a Texas-based restaurant called Jason’s Deli where they served them with kettle chips, fruit salad, and an all you can eat soft serve machine.
In addition to the traditional salami, ham, and mortadella version, Jason’s Deli offers a turkey muffuletta for those of us who aren’t super in love with the Italian meat trio. That’s the one I’m imitating with this simplified turkey muffuletta recipe. Though I’ll be the first to say that this is not really a traditional muffuletta at all because I used some of my leftover Shallot and Green Olive Focaccia rather than a lighter muffuletta loaf. (I don’t regret that substitution at all by the way. This sandwich is goooooooood.)
The polarizing part of this sandwich is usually the olive salad. I’m obsessed with olives (in case you hadn’t noticed), but I’ve found you either get excitement or disgust when you mention olives. If you’re a fan of them, you’ll LOVE this sandwich with its generous amount of olive salad, turkey, the olive-topped focaccia, and it’s melty provolone cheese. Mmmmm. Melty cheese. I think I need to make another one of these for lunch today.
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Simplified Turkey Muffuletta
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 2
- Total Time: 7
Description
A simplified turkey muffuletta with salty olive salad, smoky roasted turkey, and melty provolone cheese on a flaky olive focaccia bread.
Ingredients
- 1 10″ loaf of my Shallot and Green Olive Focaccia, muffuletta bread, or store-bought focaccia.
- 3/4 cup jarred olive salad (or olive tapenade if you can’t find olive salad)
- 8 slices provolone cheese
- 1 lb sliced deli turkey
Instructions
- Slice the bread open in half so it’s open faced.
- Spread the bottom round of the loaf generously with the olive salad.
- Add a single layer of provolone on top of the olive salad, then turkey, then the rest of the provolone.
- Toast sandwich open-faced in a toaster oven for 5 minutes or under the broiler for about 2 minutes, or until cheese begins to get melty.
- Place the top on the sandwich and cut into quarters.
- Serve immediately with potato chips.
Notes
- This can also be made one sandwich at a time, just cut off 1/4 of the loaf and divide the ingredients.
- Gluten-free: Make this on gluten-free bread.
- Vegetarian/Vegan: Swap the turkey for some portabella mushrooms and artichoke hearts.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
Meal Plan Monday 4/6-4/12:
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This meal plan is designed to feed approximately 4 adults at each meal or two adults with lunches left over. Feel free to double or add to it as needed. **You’ll need to open it with the free Adobe Reader App (Android or iOS) to be able to use the check boxes on mobile, so install that first if you don’t have it already.**
Monday: Cashew Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders with Mango Honey Dip from Carlsbad Cravings (gluten-free if using gf flour and bread crumbs, vegetarian if using tofu or your fave chicken substitute)
Tuesday: Avocado Hummus Taquitos from The Wholesome Dish (gluten-free option, vegetarian, vegan option)
Wednesday: My Crock-Pot Corn Chowder with Parmesan Rind and Pancetta (gluten-free option, vegetarian option) – This recipe is great for using up some leftover Easter ham!
Thursday: One Pot Thai Quinoa Bowl With Chicken and Spicy Peanut Sauce from The Housewife In Training Files (gluten-free, vegetarian/vegan without chicken) – The recipe has you make your own gf peanut sauce, but I decided to use store-bought sauce to save time.
Friday: This Turkey Muffaletta (gf option, vegetarian option)
Saturday: Date Night – Eat Out.
Sunday: Y.O.Y.O. (You’re on your own.)
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