2 Delicious new ways to eat the traditional muffuletta

It’s Mardi Gras time, and that means food, food and more food. If the traditional New Orleans muffuletta sandwich is one of your favorites, these fun new recipes will win you over.

Mardi Gras is one of my favorite holidays. I get to eat all the delicious food I want with zero regret. This year I decided I would take a more traditional route but add a little twist. These two simple dishes are perfect for your Mardi Gras party and sure to please your whole family.

First up, we have a baked mini muffuletta sandwich filled with ham, salami, provolone cheese and a special olive salad and Parmesan cheese dip.

Mini muffuletta sandwiches recipe

Yields 8

Ingredients:

• 8 small buns
• 15 ounces olive salad
• 8 thin slices deli ham
• 8 thin slices hard salami
• 8 thin slices provolone cheese
• Olive salad dip (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lay out the bottoms and tops of the buns. Spread an equal amount of olive salad onto each half.
3. Add ham, salami and provolone cheese to the bottom half of each bun. Wrap each sandwich in foil.
4. Add the sandwiches to the oven, and bake for about 15 minutes, until warmed and the cheese has melted.
5. Serve warm with olive salad dip.

Olive salad dip recipe

Yields 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup olive salad
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. To a bowl, add all the ingredients, and stir together. If the sauce is too thick, add more olive oil.

Next up, we have a delicious muffuletta dip. This gives you all the flavor of the muffuletta sandwich but in a fun dip form. I served it with a delicious Cajun cheese bread, but I think chips would make an equally amazing dipper.

Muffuletta dip recipe

Adapted from MyRecipes

Yields 4 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup olive salad, drained
• 1 cup diced hard salami
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped pepperoncini
• 2 ounces sliced black olives
• 2 ounces sliced green olives
• 4 ounces provolone cheese, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped roasted red pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Cajun cheese toast (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients.
2. Cover, and let sit refrigerated for a minimum of 4 hours. Serve cold with Cajun cheese toast.

Cajun cheese toast recipe

Yields 20 slices

Ingredients:

• 20 thin slices crusty bread, cut into 2 x 2-inch squares
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Cajun seasoning, to taste
• 30 small slices provolone cheese

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Lay out the bread on the baking sheet, and brush the tops of the bread with olive oil.
3. Sprinkle each slice of bread with Cajun seasoning, and top with cheese.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

More Mardi Gras recipes

3 Mardi Gras cocktails
Mardi Gras gumbo
3 Fun Mardi Gras appetizers

Updated by Bethany Ramos on 2/5/2016