Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches are one of my all-time favorite indulgences. I’ve never actually been to Philly, but I can only imagine that I would only come back at least fifteen pounds heavier if I did make the trip.
For this particular recipe, we are going with a slightly more “convenient” version. This involves using shaved roast beef from the grocery store deli, rather than ribeye.
To start, I sliced the green pepper and white onion into strips, and then further reduced them down to diced chunks. I figured this would make them easier to merge with the meat, and possibly easier to eat. I turned the burner to medium-high heat, added my butter, and waited for it to melt completely before adding my veggies. Once the veggies are added to the pan, let them cook down until soft, as the flavors mellow out and meld with the meat better this way. After roughly 8-10 minutes, add salt and pepper. Give it another couple of minutes to cook altogether, and then turn the heat down to medium.
A slight problem I ran into was peeling the razor=thin slices of deli meat apart in time to cook them all evenly together. You could slice the meat into smaller strips before cooking it, but make sure to still separate them, as to prevent clumps of meat sticking together and not getting cooked evenly.
Push the veggies to the side, and use most of your cooking surface to toss in the meat. Add the garlic powder directly onto your meat, and add a bit more pepper. You can easily add just a tad more salt, too, but that’s dependent upon your personal taste preferences. Let the meat cook until the majority of them are browned, and then stir in your veggies.
Separate the meat and veggie mixture into two halves in the saucepan. Cover each half with two slices of provolone cheese, and let cook for roughly four minutes, or until the cheese has melted into the meat and veggies. Cut into your deli rolls so that they are almost entirely cut through, but not quite. Leave the top and bottom halves slightly conjoined at the back. Now, lay each bottom half of the deli rolls onto a large sheet of foil and stretch the halves apart as much as you can without pulling them apart. Stuff the deli sub with the meat, veggies and cheese. Seal the top of the roll onto the fillings, and wrap the entire sandwich tightly in foil. Repeat for the other sandwich, and bake both for about ten minutes at 350 degrees.
Wha la! My homemade version of Philly Cheesesteaks!
**UPDATE!** I finally made these with shaved ribeye! However, I went to two different stores and neither of them would shave a ribeye I bought, so I had to do it by hand (which took foreeever.) Totally worth it because the flavor is seriously amazing – but just know that unless you have a specific butcher shop you plan on going to for the meat, shaved ribeye is not exactly an easy find.
I also attempted to make cheese sauce, and failed miserably. Sooo … we’ll get back to that one someday. If you do have the opportunity to use shaved ribeye, know that I bought about a pound of it and sliced it as thinly as possible the entire way down the cut of the steak. You really only need about 1/4 lb. per person, so use as much as you prefer. Mark and I are fatties, so we definitely both inhaled way more than we should have. I only feel 3% guilty about that.
Actual Prep / cook time: 30 minutes [quick and easy!]
Clean-up difficulty: 2 [only one pan used!]
Overall difficulty to make: 2
Overall satisfaction: 8.5 [these are some seriously yummy sandwiches.]
What I would change next time? I may just go with the provolone to keep things easy. Cheese sauce is awesome, but adds a little extra time to the mix. Cheez Whiz could always be an option, too!
© 2015 : a flavor journal : by sara alvord
philly cheesesteak sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon butter
- 1/2 diced green pepper
- 1/2 diced medium white onion
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1/2 lb. thinly sliced rare roast beef deli style, and paper thin OR shaved ribeye
- 4 slices provolone from the deli
- 2 deli sub rolls or pretzel rolls
- 2 sheets foil
Instructions
- Turn oven to 350 degrees.
- Add butter to large saucepan over medium heat; sauté diced veggies for 8-10 minutes, until soft.
- Add 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper; stir veggies until entirely coated.
- Push veggies to side; add meat (1 slice at a time) to empty side of pan. Add garlic powder and remaining salt and pepper, cook until all slices are browned (about 5 minutes).
- Mix meat and veggies together in pan.
- Separate mixture in half; push each half to opposite sides of the pan.
- Cover each half with two slices of provolone.
- Cook until cheese has melted into veggies, roughly 4 minutes.
- Slice deli rolls almost in half; stuff one half of mixture into hoagie.
- Seal meat and veggies inside rolls, and wrap each roll tightly in foil.
- Bake foil-wrapped sandwiches at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately - these are best served fresh and hot!
Notes
Tried this recipe?
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