Cheesesteak (not Philly)

There is no way I would commit blogicide by calling these Philly Cheesesteaks, but I think it's safe to say they were inspired by the ones from Philly. 

When I first met my husband I didn't eat a lot of red meat, generally only hamburgers or meatballs, because I just didn't know I liked beef if it wasn't ground and in a patty or a ball.  Boy, have I come a long way over the last 13 years.  Anyway, the first time he took me to a cheesesteak shop I got a chicken cheesesteak.  He just shook his head and begged me to try his sandwich.  Since that time, I've never had one made with chicken again.  Now we like making our own...

You will see carrot in the ingredient list, and it's not a mistake.  I didn't type carrot intending to write bell pepper.  Sometime within the last year I was making this for dinner and I'd just pulled some carrot out of the garden so thought I would use it in my cheesesteak meat mix.  It was so good.  My husband tried it this last time and he agreed, saying it's better with carrot than bell pepper.  So, here's the way we do it:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 carrot, finely diced or shredded
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced green or red bell pepper (optional)
1 pound sliced London Broil from the deli
1 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more or less to taste
4 soft french sub rolls
Sliced havarti or provolone

Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil, then veggies.  Saute just until soft, then add beef and seasonings.  Cook over medium heat until beef is heated through and well mixed with the veggies. 

For the cheese you can either:

• move beef into piles, cover the piles with cheese and put a lid on the skillet heating until the cheese melts.  Take the meat/cheese mix and put it on the sub roll, or
• put cheese on the sub roll, then top with the hot meat mixture

Just before serving I like to drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on the sandwiches.

~ Enjoy ~