This is an all-time favorite in our household. Originally I made one for a SuperBowl party we were having, but my family started asking for it regularly so it became one of our 'tried and true' recipes that I make at least once a month.
I full-heartedly suggest trying it for your next football get-together.
Stuffed Bread Bowl
Something important to point out is this recipe doesn't have exact amounts, and you need to add/delete what your family likes.
1 round loaf bread - homemade is best but grocery stores carry these all the time now
1 dry package Italian dressing mix*
1/2 c regular mayonnaise
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c black olives, chopped
1/2 c dill pickle relish (or chopped fine dill pickles)
lettuce
tomatoes
green peppers
onions
smoked ham
turkey
cotto salami
bologna
american cheese slices
provolone slices
Mix the mayonnaise and sour cream together with 1/2 package of the dry Italian dressing, pickle relish and black olives.
Slice the top 1/3 of the bread bowl off. Remove the inside of the bread bowl leaving one inch of bread around the entire side and leaving at least 1/2 - 1 inch of bread on the bottom.
Save the inside of the bread for other uses such as stuffing, croutons or dice it up, toast it and serve it with a flavored oil for dipping. Whatever you do, just don't throw it away.
Now, spread the mayo mixture on the inside of the bread bowl and the lid of the bread bowl. Make sure all the insides are covered with a nice thick layer. Using the lettuce, line the bowl and lid completely with the lettuce leaves. After the lettuce is in place, layer the bread bowl with a layer of the deli meat - you choose which one you want to use. Continue to layer the meats and cheeses until you get to the top. I typically layer salami or bologna, then american, then turkey, then provolone then ham. Press each layer down compact into the bowl as you go.
Top your bowl with the green peppers, thin sliced onions, tomatoes, etc. (and anything else you may want to add.) You want to be sure your bowl is filled to the top and can even be up to 1 inch over the top. Now use the bread 'lid' to top it off.
Wrap the entire sandwich tightly (!) in saran wrap. The tighter the better. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours and up to about 12. (I've done it for up to 24.) This is BEST if made the DAY BEFORE YOU NEED IT. This mostly is because it helps 'set up' this way and won't fall apart when you slice it.
Unwrap and serve. You can slice it into triangles if you prefer, but we like to make one slice down the center to cut it in 'half' and then I make vertical slices on each half. This makes for easy slicing, serving and eating. You get about 12 servings.
* Italian dressing mix works best but I recently started to buy my spices from Penzeys Spices and last night I used their Creamy Peppercorn dressing base spice. I used 1 tablespoon of spice for 1 cup of mayo/sour cream mixture. It was wonderful and I'll be using either/or from now on as I really like both.
