Party sandwiches

I love a good party sandwich. From towers of plush chicken salad on soft rolls at a shower to crusty rolls piled high with meat and cheese at a tailgate, well-made party sandwiches are reliable crowd pleasers that love to be prepped well in advance. 

It’s important to start with a good foundation and use bread with enough heft and structure to stand up to wrapping and slicing and transporting. Crusty bread that needs refreshing can be placed in a 350-degree oven for five minutes to wake up the crust, then allowed to completely cool for about an hour before proceeding with the recipe. Often it helps to pull out some of the soft bread in the interior of the sliced loaf to make room for more tasty fillings.

The two sandwiches below have become a staple of my entertaining repertoire. A classic New Orleans preparation, the muffaletta is a layered sandwich that combines three types of cured meat with a punchy olive salad on round sesame loaf. While I recommend serving this sandwich the next day, it keeps remarkably well thanks no doubt to its hefty serving of salt and cured everything. But hey, it’s party food! 

For plant lovers, the roasted vegetable sandwich was inspired by one served at Big Delicious Planet, a catering company I worked for in Chicago back in the mid-aughts. It’s continued to be a client favorite, even with meat lovers, thanks to the interplay of sweet savory roasted veggies and tangy fresh goat cheese.

Muffaletta

Ingredients:

1 cup pimento stuffed olives, drained (reserve 3 tablespoons drained liquid) 

½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, drained 

3 tablespoons capers, drained 

1 cup giardiniera, drained (reserve ½ cup drained liquid) 

1 small shallot, minced or two tablespoons minced red onion 

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon each dried thyme and crushed red pepper flakes 

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley 

1 large sesame crusted Italian bread loaf 

6 ounces sliced provolone 

6 ounces thinly sliced ham 

4 ounces thinly sliced salami 

4 ounces thinly sliced mortadella or garlic bologna

First make the olive salad. Combine both kinds of olives, capers, giardiniera, shallot or onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse lightly to chop everything into roughly 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and add the dried herbs and pepper flakes, parsley and reserved liquids. Mix well to combine, then cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. The olive salad can be made and refrigerated up to five days ahead. It also makes an excellent spread for topping bruschetta.

Slice the seeded loaf in half crosswise and carefully remove some of the bread from the center of both halves to make a shallow cavity. Spread the olive salad onto both halves of the bread, then top one half with the sliced provolone, followed by the ham, salami and mortadella. Top with the remaining olive salad-covered half of the loaf, then wrap the whole sandwich tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

When ready to serve, remove and discard the plastic wrap. Secure the sandwich with long toothpicks if desired and slice the sandwich into eight slices for full size servings, or 12-15 slices for smaller, party sized servings.

Roasted vegetable and chèvre sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini (look for young eggplants that are shiny and firm) 

1 medium eggplant 

2 roasted red peppers

3-4 portobello mushrooms 

Olive oil as needed for roasting vegetables (about 2 tablespoons)  

Salt and black pepper, to taste 

4 ounces fresh goat cheese or cream cheese, or a combination, at room temperature 

1 clove minced garlic 

1 tablespoon each minced fresh parsley and basil

A small pinch red pepper flakes, to taste 

3 ounces arugula or baby spinach 

1 crusty baguette 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper for easy cleanup. Lightly brush the parchment with some of the olive oil. Slice the zucchini into ½-inch thick ovals and arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer. The edges can touch but shouldn’t overlap. Peel the eggplant, then cut it in half lengthwise before slicing into ½-inch thick half moons and place it in a similar fashion on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the sliced veggies with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Likewise put the mushrooms gill side down on the other baking sheet and brush with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Roast the veggies and mushrooms in the preheated oven for 12-18 minutes until lightly golden spots and cooked through but not mushy. Flip the mushrooms over halfway through cooking. Depending on their size, they will likely take longer to cook.

When the veggies are done cooking, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, thinly slice the mushrooms. Meanwhile, make the filling by combining the minced herbs, cheese, garlic and pepper flakes in a small mixing bowl. Slice the bread in half crossways and pull a little of the bread in the center of both halves of the loaf to make a shallow trough. Spread the goat cheese mixture on both sides of the bread. Pat the roasted pepper dry with paper towels. Layer the roasted vegetables onto the bread, then top with the arugula and close the sandwich. Secure the sandwich with toothpicks, slice and serve.  

Ashley Meyer is a chef, freelance writer and mom of two based in Springfield.

This article appears in October 23-29, 2025.