Mastering the Grill_ The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking - Andrew Schloss [243]
7. Put the sandwiches on the grill and compress them gently with a weight such as an iron skillet (the sandwiches should compress slightly, but the fillings should not be squeezed out). Fill the skillet with extra weight such as a rock or brick if necessary to gently compress the sandwiches. Grill until the cheese melts and the bread is toasted, about 5 minutes per side, using the weight on both sides.
8. Remove to a platter or plates and cut each panino in half on the diagonal before serving.
Grilled Muffuletta
Here’s a New Orleans specialty—a sandwich of cold cuts and olive salad layered in a round loaf and then pressed like a panino to compact the ingredients. The original is said to have been dreamed up at the New Orleans Central Grocery in 1906 by Salvatore Lupo. It’s traditionally served cold, but muffuletta makes a damn fine hot sandwich off the grill. We grill-bake the whole shebang in foil until the cheese melts. We also use smoked cheese and smoked ham to enhance the grill flavors. This makes a great summer sandwich, especially when camping or lighting a fire that you can plan to let burn down slowly any way.
TIMING
Prep: 20 minutes
Marinate: 6 hours or up to 3 days
Grill: 10 to 15 minutes
GRILL TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
• Heat-resistant grill mitts
• Aluminum foil
TIP
• Save time by replacing the olive salad with store-bought olive salad. Of course, you’ll lose a bit of flavor this way.
* * *
THE GRILL
Gas:
Indirect heat, medium (325° to 350°F)
3- or 4-burner grill-middle burner(s) off
2-burner grill—1 side off Clean, oiled grate
Charcoal:
Indirect heat, medium ash
Split charcoal bed (about 2 dozen coals per side)
Clean, oiled grate on medium setting
INGREDIENTS (MAKES 6 SERVINGS)
For the olive salad:
1 jar (about 6 ounces) pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives, drained and finely chopped
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, drained and finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the sandwich:
1 large round loaf Italian or French bread (1¼ to 1½ pounds), preferably with sesame seeds
4 ounces thinly sliced smoked provolone or mozzarella cheese
3 ounces thinly sliced mortadella
3 ounces thinly sliced Genoa salami
2 ounces thinly sliced baked ham, preferably smoked Virginia ham
½ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and thinly sliced
DIRECTIONS
1. For the olive salad, combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 6 hours or up to 3 days.
2. Remove the olive salad from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before assembling the sandwich, to let it warm up a bit.
3. For the sandwich, cut the bread in half through the side and remove some of the inner bread to create a hollow for the stuffing; leave about 1 inch of soft bread attached to the crust. Reserve the removed bread for breadcrumbs or another recipe.
4. Drain the olive salad and reserve the liquid. Dip a basting brush into the liquid and brush the interior of the bread with it.
5. Layer half of both cheeses on the bottom of the bread. Layer on half of the olive salad, then the mortadella, salami, ham, and sun-dried tomatoes. Add the remaining half of the olive salad and the remaining half of the cheese. Cover with the top of the bread and compress the sandwich with your hands. Wrap in foil and weight down the foil-wrapped sandwich with a heavy skillet filled with canned goods or another heavy weight. Let stand for 30 minutes or until the grill is ready.
6. Heat the grill as directed.
7. Put the foil-wrapped sandwich on the grill away from the heat, and weight it down with the skillet and a rock or brick if necessary to keep the sandwich compressed. Cover the grill and cook until the cheese melts, 10 to 15 minutes. If your grill has a temperature