New Orleans-Style Muffuletta

Ingredients
1/2 cup coarsely chopped, pitted ripe olives
1/2 cup chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 16-ounce loaf ciabatta or unsliced French bread
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
6 lettuce leaves
3 ounces thinly sliced salami, pepperoni, or summer sausage
3 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham or turkey
6 ounces thinly sliced provolone, Swiss, or mozzarella cheese
1 or 2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Directions
1. In a small bowl stir together ripe olives, green olives, parsley, lemon juice, and oregano. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. To assemble sandwich, using a serrated knife split loaf of bread horizontally and hollow out the inside of the top half, leaving a 3/4-inch-thick shell. Stir together olive oil and garlic. Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom half of the bread with olive oil mixture. Top with lettuce, salami, ham, cheese, and tomato slices. Sprinkle tomato slices with pepper. Stir olive mixture. Mound olive mixture on top of the tomato slices. Add top half of bread. To serve, cut into six portions. Makes 6 sandwiches.
3. Giardiniera-Style Muffuletta: Prepare as above, except omit the olives, parsley, lemon juice, and oregano and omit Step 1. Drain one 16-ounce jar of pickled mixed vegetables (giardiniera), reserving the liquid. Chop the vegetables, removing any pepperoncini stems if present. In a medium bowl stir together chopped vegetables; 2 tablespoons of the reserved liquid; 1/4 cup chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives and/or pitted ripe olives; 1 clove garlic, minced; and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Assemble sandwich as above, spooning the pickled vegetable mixture on top of the tomato slices.