You Don't Always Need A Roll With It

As a women from the suburbs of Philadelphia, I have grown up eating Cheesesteaks. There's so many ways I've had a Cheesesteak. I've had your traditional with whiz down in the city at Geno's or Pat's, I've had a sauce and fried onion at the local pizza shop, sometimes mushrooms too, or there was always Don's Cheesesteaks. Don is one of my parents closest friends, and he used to fire up the grill at tailgates and make us Cheesesteaks that could probably give Pat's and Geno's a run for their money!

Some places advertise a Philly Cheesesteak with peppers and provolone cheese, but that is not the traditional cheesesteak I grew up with, so I'm not sure where that came from.

This particular Cheesesteak has no roll, and when you grow up eating Amoroso rolls for years and fresh bread and rolls from all over the Philadelphia area, you get spoiled! Being on Keto and low carb while missing home, I had to find a way to make a Cheesesteak work. This was a perfect option! Though I don't typically have peppers on, it was the best way to make a boat for the meat. Some stores actually have Cheesesteak meat sliced thin and ready to go. Some cities have butchers you can get it from. I found some sliced beef that was intended for Mexican cooking at my local Walmart, and it was perfect for this recipe! It wasn't seasoned yet so I was good to throw it in the cast iron pan and season with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic salt (my four favorite seasonings). I browned off the meat and then took it out of the pan, placing it on a cutting board. I then threw the mushrooms in the same cast iron pan I did the beef in and some diced onion. While that cooked off I cut up the slices of beef into bite size pieces, added it back to the pan as the mushrooms became tender and the onions translucent. I had the peppers sliced in half and ready to go as little pepper boats, scooped some of the beef, mushrooms and onions in, topped with my Mom's homemade sauce and baked in the oven for about 15 minutes (until the peppers were tender). I switched from the 350 degree oven to the high broiler to melt down the mozzarella cheese (you could use any cheese you prefer) and broiled for about 3-6 minutes - varies on your oven, some may broiler/melt the cheese faster then others. There you have it, a healthy way to enjoy one of my favorite sandwhiches. Though it was not the traditional version from home, it still hit the spot!