(Traditional New Orleans Italian sammitch. Yes, New Orleans is inhabited by people other than Cajuns. Best place to git one: Central Grocery in the French Quarter, a former alleyway, now deli, very close the rest of the best stuff in the Quarter. Lots of delicious dead things hanging from the ceiling.)
1 cup pitted green olives, chopped coarse
1 cup pitted black olives, chopped coarse
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 oz roasted red peppers (jar stuff OK), drained and chopped fine
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
2 TBS lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
(these ingredients all go in one bowl. Stir, cover, and refrigerate at least 8 hours. 24 hours is better.)
1 large (9-inch) round Italian or French bread
8 oz mortadella, thinly sliced
8 oz provolone cheese, thinly sliced
8 oz hard salami, thinly sliced
And you'll need a big goddamned dictionary or other large heavy book. Wrap it in plastic if you don't want it to develop character.
Okay, drain the olive mix, reserving the juice. Cut the bread in half hamburger-bun style, digging out a hollow in the domed top. Smear the cut sides of the bread with the reserved juice, and place half of the olive mix in the hollwed-out top. Layer the meats and cheese on top of that, then spread the other half of the olive mix on top of the whole mess. Place the flat bottom of the bread on top, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Invert.
Now put the wrapped sammitch on a big-enough plate. Put yer big book on top. Pile some other heavy stuff from the fridge on top of the big book-- pickle jars, gallons of milk, whatever you have handy. Compression is key. Stick the whole assemblage into the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to six hours.
Unwrap, cut into wedges, and stand clear.
