Muffaletta is both a round Sicilian sesame bread and a sandwich that originated from Italian immigrants in New Orleans, Louisiana. This recipe is neither of those things, but we’ve drawn inspiration from this savoury masterpiece to transform it into a pizza. Still with us?
We’ve subbed out a few of the traditional ingredients in lieu of more pizza-friendly toppings, but the end result is undeniably delicious. The briny, salty Muffaletta sauce goes so well on pizza (and just about anything for that matter), we’d forgive you if you wanted to put it on everything.
Muffaletta-Style Pizza
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1 cup warm water 1 teaspoon instant yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt ⅓ cup sicilian green olives, diced ⅓ cup roasted red peppers, diced ¼ cup pickled banana peppers, diced (plus more for topping) 1 teaspoon capers ½ shallot, finely diced |
½ teaspoon red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper, to taste ¼ cup sliced ham or mortadella ¼ cup sliced hot calabrese salami ¼ cup sliced capicola 1 tablespoon black olives, sliced ⅓ cup fior di latte |
Method:
Make the pizza dough. In a small bowl, combine warm water with instant yeast, and leave to bloom for a couple of minutes. Add the yeast to the mixing bowl, along with flour, sugar and salt. Using the dough hook, combine ingredients until a nice dough has formed, about 10 minutes. Grease a bowl with a couple drops of oil, then place the dough inside. Let the dough proof, covered, until it has doubled in size, about an hour.
Preheat your oven to 500. Meanwhile, prepare the muffaletta sauce. In a medium sized bowl, combine olives, roasted red peppers, banana peppers, capers, shallot and red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Combine well, then season with salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.
Once dough has proofed, remove it from the bowl and cut it into two. With your hands, gently shape the dough to the size of your desired pan (we like to use an 8” round pizza pan). Spoon some muffaletta sauce on to the dough, and spread it around evenly. Top with ham, salami, capicola, black olives and banana peppers.
Bake pizza in oven for 8-10 minutes, just until the crust starts to become golden brown. Carefully remove from oven, and place torn pieces of fior di latte on top. Return to oven, and set to broil (500), just until the cheese melts. Serve and enjoy.
Adrian Harris and Jeremy Inglett are the founders and owners of Food Gays Media.
