How to make a vegetarian Muffuletta Sandwich with grilled vegetables, pesto, mozzarella cheese, and Olive Tapenade. Great for picnics or summer gatherings.
One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few. ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh~
Hello… delicious bundle of summer! This Muffuletta Sandwich is loaded up with veggies, pesto, olive tapenade, and fresh mozzarella cheese-a mouthful to be sure, but it’s the perfect make-ahead meal for weekday lunches, picnics or lazy lake days. Make the giant Muffuletta sandwich ahead and store in the fridge, slicing off pieces as you need them. If short on time, use store-bought pesto and olive tapenade.
Muffuletta Variations
This recipe is really all about giving you ideas- so if you don’t like eggplant, but love turkey breast, swap them out and create a Turkey Pesto Muffuletta. If you want more “meat”, add cured Italian deli meat like sweet coppa, soppressata, bresaola, or salami. Change out the cheese, and use provolone. If opting for a vegan option, try adding a layer of hummus or baba ganoush instead of cheese. The sky is the limit here so just have fun with it. I happen to really love grilled eggplant ( which can also be roasted) so that’s why it’s here.
Muffuletta Ingredients
- Bread– Use a light, crusty round Italian Loaf, approximately 4 inches tall and 8-10 inches in diameter. Here I’m using this rosemary olive loaf. Feel free to use focaccia bread, French bread, or any other light, whole loaf of bread.
- Pesto- For adding punchy fresh flavor to the sandwich!
- Cheese- Provolone, fresh mozzerella both work well.
- Olive Tapenade– for savory, salty flavor!
- Roasted Vegetables– We use roasted vegetables instead of deli meats.
- Optional: fresh greens like arugula
How to make Muffuletta
Slice the bread horizontally, leaving about an inch of bread at the bottom, then hollow out the top, to make room for the filling.
Lather the bread with pesto.
Then begin layering the vegetables.
Add the cheese and olive tapenade. I topped it with arugula.
Lather the top with pesto too, and put the lid on it.
Then press, slice, and wrap the leftovers up in the fridge. If you have a very moist sandwich, place it over a plate lined with paper towels.
Storage
This Muffuletta will keep for 3 days in the fridge!
Serving Suggestions
Serve with a leafy green salad or Caprese Pasta Salad.
More Favorite Sandwich Recipes
- Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- Heirloom Tomato Basil Sandwich
- Middle Eastern Eggplant Wrap
- 20 Healthy Eggplant Recipes
Hope this gives you some ideas on how to make your own glorious muffuletta sandwich this summer!
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Muffuletta Sandwich
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8
- Category: Sandwich
- Method: grilled
- Cuisine: italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
How to make a vegetarian Muffuletta Sandwich with grilled vegetables, pesto, mozzarella cheese, and Olive Tapenade. Great for picnics or summer gatherings.
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds ( see notes)
- 1 round loaf of bread- sourdough bread, crusty Italian loaf, French bread, focaccia bread ( 8-10 inches in diameter and 3-4 inches tall.
- 1 jar roasted peppers ( or roast your own pepper)
- 1/2 cup pesto ( store-bought or homemade, see below)
- 1/2 cup olive tapenade (store bought or homemade, see below)
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese ( optional, or sub provelone, or hummus for a vegan option)
- handful arugula
- Other options – turkey breast, cured Italian meats, artichoke hearts, grilled zucchini, grilled portobello mushrooms
Quick Basil Pesto (vegan)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 ounces fresh basil leaves (about 1 cup packed down)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup toasted pinenuts (or sub almonds, smoked almonds are nice too)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Olive tapenade:
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley (packed, or sub basil)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives ( or sub green olives)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1–2 tablespoons capers
- pinch chili flakes ( optional)
Instructions
- If using eggplant, preheat grill to medium-high heat. ( Alternatively you can roast the eggplant in 400F oven until golden and tender) Slice the eggplant into ¼ inch disks, brush with olive oil and season with salt.
- While grill is warming up, make the pesto. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse repeatedly until you achieve desired consistency. Scrape out into a bowl.
- Using the same food processor ( no need to rinse) make the olive tapenade. Add the parsley and garlic first and pulse until uniformly chopped. Then add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the capers, which you will stir in at the end. Pulse repeatedly until nicely chopped but not smooth. Place in a bowl, stir in capers. Add chili flakes if you like.
- Grill the eggplant, searing both sides nicely 4-5 minutes each side, turning heat down if it’s too hot, then place eggplant slices in a foil packet to steam for a few minutes to cook all the way through. It is imperative your eggplant is cooked through.
- Cut loaf of bread horizontally in half, leaving a good inch on the bottom layer. Spread the bottom with half the pesto. Build the sandwich on a cutting board if possible. Layer with eggplant (salt it now, if needed), roasted peppers, fresh mozzarella, olive tapenade (I used about 3/4), and arugula. Spread the top layer of bread with remaining pesto and place it on top.
- Press down gently. Either serve right away and cut sections with a sharp knife, or refrigerate it, placing on a layer of paper towels over a plate or platter. Cover with plastic wrap. Enjoy for the next few days.
Notes
I will often make this with sliced organic turkey breast instead of grilled eggplant during other times of the year. It saves time, because there’s no grilling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 304
- Sugar: 3.1 g
- Sodium: 533.6 mg
- Fat: 24.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 7.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.4 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 10.7 g
- Cholesterol: 33.7 mg
I love this recipe so much! There’s so much flavor in this sandwich! I roasted both the eggplant and the red peppers. The first time I made this, I bought an unsliced sourdough loaf from Publix. Thanks to you all, I can make my own sourdough loaf now, which I did 😇 thanks for stretching my cooking and baking skills!!!
Glad you enjoyed this! Love that you made your own Sourdough bread!
We absolutely loved this!!
Best sandwich ever!
So glad to hear this, appreciate the review Toni!
Excellent! Great combination of flavors!
Great to hear!!!
Thank you! It’s excellent with eggplant! Perfect combination of flavors!
So delicious!
Just another great idea! I love these recipes where there are no strict rules and one can improvise and substitute ingredients freely… makes cooking (and eating) so much fun 🙂 Thanks for this one Sylvia!!
Silvia
I made this recipe almost to the letter, ( I omitted garlic because I’m not a fan). It’s the most delicious samich ever – especially if wrapped tightly in Saran for a few hours to let the flavors meld. I slather both sides with pesto and layer extra eggplant. So much better and healthier than anything one would find on Canal Street! Extra yummy – many thanks for all your great recipes!
Oh MY.. that is one of the best sandwiches ever!