Festive Muffuletta Wreaths

Have you heard of muffuletta? I like to call it the “king” of Italian sandwiches because it has the best of all things Italian in it! Before we knew it to be an epic sandwich layered with meats and cheese, topped with an “olive salad,” muffuletta was known only as a round bread topped with sesame seeds that hails from Sicily. What I didn’t know is that the sandwich originated from Italian immigrants who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Course: bread

Cuisine: American

Servings: 2 wreaths

Ingredients

1 pkg 8 g quick-rising (instant) dry yeast (or 2½ tsp)
1½ cups warm water 100-110°F
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
1½ tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
3/4 cup muffuletta mix (in a jar) in the pickle sections of your grocery store
1 egg beaten
salt for finishing
Rosemary, parsley, thinly sliced onion, prosciutto, tomatoes for decorating

Instructions

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water; let sit for 5 minutes.
Once it begins to bubble, add flour, sugar and salt; mix together with a wooden spoon until it all comes together. Add the muffuletta mix and combine well (the dough will be sticky).
Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and form into a ball. Cover the bowl and put in a draft-free place for a least a few hours, until doubled in size (you can leave it all day or even overnight in the refrigerator).
Preheat oven to 400°F.
On a well-floured board, separate the dough into two portions; roll out each piece of into two long rolls and pinch the two ends together to form a circle. To make the wreath more decorative, snip the edges (see tip below) or make cuts and pull out pieces (see photos above); cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Lightly brush tops with egg and bake until golden on top and hollow sounding on the bottom, about 20 minutes.
Decorate wreaths as you wish and serve warm!

Notes

If you would like the baguette to be more decorative, you can take kitchen shears (or clean scissors and make tiny snips (about ¼-inch) into the sides of the bread to create decorative cuts that resemble a pine cone). It adds a pretty touch to the bread!