Muffuletta sandwich engineered perfectly

My robot is old school: Wind him up and he lurches across the desk, orange tin arms swinging, red tin boots shuffling, black tin eyes deep in concentration. And though he makes excellent company, I'm glad I didn't invite him to the robotics competition. Frankly, things have changed.

Packed into stadium bleachers, hundreds of young engineers in bright T-shirts and funny hats cheered on their creations. These robots were low and wide, smooth on their wheels and dexterous -- they could pass, shoot and score. Not one blinked or grimaced. Building the 'bot had taken six weeks in a sweaty basement. It took wrenches, screwdrivers, safety glasses. It took mathematics, elastics, pneumatics. It took calibration, cooperation, concentration. It took many, many sandwiches.

Home from the match, I engineered a muffuletta. The sandwich is wide and low. It's packed with cheese and ham and olives and improved by the mechanics of the squish. It's hearty enough to keep a whole robotics team on track. And simple enough to please the old-school fan of the windup.

Muffuletta

1 (1-pound) loaf round Italian bread

2 1/2 cups Olive Salad (recipe follows)

4 ounces thinly sliced provolone

4 ounces thinly sliced ham

4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella

3/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

Slice bread in half horizontally. Open and pull out some of the crumb (save for breadcrumbs another day).

Pile half the Olive Salad onto the bread bottom. Layer on cheese, ham, cheese. Stir tomatoes into remaining olive salad and pile on top. Cover with bread top.

Wrap sandwich securely in plastic. Balance something flat on top and weight it down with something heavy. Let rest at room temperature, 30 minutes.

Slice into 6 wedges. Serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Olive Salad

3/4 cup finely chopped green olives

3/4 cup finely chopped black olives

3/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients. Cover and let rest at room temperature, 1 hour.

Makes: about 2 1/2 cups.

Food on 05/21/2014

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