Roasted Vegetable Muffuletta with Black Olive Tapenade

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat the oven to 450°F. Put the vegetables in a large bowl and toss them with the oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, turning to coat. Lay the vegetables in a single layer on cookie sheets (the peppers should be skin side up) and bake for 30 minutes, until well roasted. Put the peppers into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam for about 10 minutes to loosen the skins; then peel. Reserve the roasted garlic cloves for the olive tapenade. Set the rest of the vegetables aside to cool to room temperature.

   Step 2

   Peel the skins off the roasted garlic. In a food processor, combine the olives, anchovies, capers, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, basil, oil, and roasted garlic cloves. Pulse until the mixture is well blended.

   Step 3

   To make the sandwich, cut the bread loaf in half horizontally. Pull out all but 1 inch of the bread from the inside of each half to create a cavity. Spread the tapenade in one even layer inside the bread, making sure to do both halves. You will have a little olive paste left over; set it aside for the vegetables. Start stacking the roasted vegetables inside the bottom half of the bread. I like to keep the colors together; it looks nicer when you cut it that way. Season each layer with salt and pepper. Alternate every third layer with mozzarella and then a little of the olive tapenade. Stack the vegetables in a slight pyramid formation so the top will fit. Continue layering the vegetables and cheese until the loaf is full and all the vegetables have been used. Cap the sandwich with the top half of the bread and press it slightly. Place the muffuletta on the center of a very big piece of plastic wrap. Fold the plastic over the top to cover and then twist the ends really tight to compress the sandwich. When ready to eat, slice the sandwich like a pie with a serrated knife.