A first bite of a muffuletta is one you don’t soon forget. The sandwich was brought to the U.S. by Italian immigrants as early as the 1800s and made famous by iconic spots like Central Grocery, where it’s been served since 1906. Each sandwich is piled high on round Italian bread with meats, cheeses, and the signature olive spread.
You shouldn’t expect a different experience with this muffuletta pasta salad. The dressing is simultaneously punchy, savory, and briny from the olives, pepperoncini, and spices in the olive salad, and a combination of lemon juice and red wine vinegar adds a balanced acidity. This pasta salad is packed with all the goodies: Sweet bell peppers, savory salami, hot capocollo, and mortadella, and salty cheese. The sesame seeds add a slight nutty note in an otherwise punchy pasta salad and throw back to the sesame loaf that’s sometimes used as the bread of choice.
Recipe Tips From The Southern Living Test Kitchen
- Central Grocery’s Olive Salad is available at Publix and is delicious. However, drain the olive salad so the oil won’t dilute the flavor of the dressing.
- Allowing the pasta salad to rest gives the dressing and other ingredients time to mingle and meld, creating a more complex and flavorful dish. Be sure to stir occasionally so the dressing is well distributed.
- Store leftovers in an air-tight container, refrigerated, for up to one day. Stir and allow the salad to come to room temperature before serving.
- Do not cook the pasta to al dente for pasta salads. As the pasta cools, it will firm up to become al dente once again.
- Substitute rigatoni for orecchiette, bowties, or conchiglie—all these shapes would hold the olives and cured meats nicely.
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