Muffuletta Sliders with Olive and Giardiniera Relish

Muffuletta Sliders are small handheld sandwiches filled with deli slices of ham, bologna, salami and provolone cheese then topped with a sweet and tangy vegetable and olive relish.  These sandwiches make a great easy lunch, dinner or party fare. 

Muffuletta  is a traditional New Orleans style sandwich that I have always wanted to try to make at home.  What really makes the sandwich special other than all that meat filling is the olive and veggie salad or relish that tops the sandwich.   So since the deli provided all the meats for the sandwich, I set out to make my own version of this relish.  I was happily surprised how easy it was to make.  I used my food processor to chop everything for the relish and took a few minutes to cook it together.  It was done in minutes.  I made a batch that gave me four 16oz jars and I can't wait to use them up. 

This olive and giardiniera relish will be great on not only these muffuletta sandwiches, but hot dogs and burgers as well. The kids were so thrilled with the muffuletta sandwiches that they requested them for their lunchbox sandwich today.  I may go through all that  Olive and Giardiniera Relish much faster than I thought. 

Muffuletta Sliders with Olive and Giardiniera Relish
Recipe by Ramona from Kitchen Simmer

Ingredients:

Muffuletta Slider
Slider style bread (I used Kings Hawaiian Honey Wheat Rolls) **see note
Genoa Salami slices as desired
Mortadella slices (substitute American or German bologna)
Ham slices as desired
Provolone cheese slices 
Mayonnaise
Olive and Giardiniera Relish (see recipe below) 

Olive and Giardiniera Relish Recipe
1/2 large white cauliflower finely chopped 
2 large carrots finely chopped
2 stalks celery finely chopped
1 large onion finely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic finely minced
5-6 sweet peppers or large red bell pepper finely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers or serrano peppers finely minced
1 cup water
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbs white sugar
1 Tbs salt (regular white iodized salt)
2 tsp red chili flakes-or to taste 
2 tsp dried oregano 
1 cups chopped manzanilla olives
1/4 cup canola oil

Tip:  To chop cauliflower, celery, carrots, peppers, onion, garlic and olives, I recommend pulsing ingredients one at time in a food processor. 

Directions:
Relish:
Step 1:  wash and peel ingredients as needed.  Coarsely chop and then place in a food processor chop.  Pluse the food processor so not to over process the ingredients.

 


Step 2:  Place the chopped cauliflower, carrots, celery, peppers, onion, garlic, white wine vinegar, sugar, water, oregano, red chili flakes and salt into large pan and cook on high heat for 7-8 minutes.  

 


Step 3: After cooking ingredients, turn stove off and add chopped  manzanilla olives and canola oil.  Taste for salt and seasoning.  Place relish in clean glass jars and allow to cool down.  Store in fridge for 2 weeks.   

Muffuletta Sandwich:
Step 1:  Slice bread in half.  Note: if you are using the Kings Hawaiian rolls, keep rolls attached and form one large sandwich.  Then cut into individual rolls.    I took a long serrated bread knife and sliced through the middle of the entire bunch of buns.  

Step 2:  Apply a thick coating of mayonnaise on both the top and bottom sides of the bread.  Then top the bottom slice of bread with cheese and meat slices.  Top with a generous layer of relish. Place top of bun and secure each individual bun with a toothpick (recommended).  Cut out each bun to form a mini slider.

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