Recipe Swap: Cheesesteak Pizza
When I was assigned the blog The Redhead Baker in this Blogger's Choice Recipe Swap hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking, I immediately thought about baking something. I mean, how can you not want to bake something when you look through her list of cakes and cookies and candies and pies and muffins... you get the picture. She has a ton of sweets on this blog - if you want to bake something, check it out! But then I started looking through her savory dishes, and as soon as I saw a recipe for a Philly Cheesesteak Pizza I knew what I would be making.
I love a good Cheesesteak, and I have a great recipe for making them at home here. I have used leftover cheesesteak ingredients to make a cheesesteak omelet inspired by one I had in Philly, and have also had cheesesteak calzones and strombolis, but never a pizza.
Besides really wanting to try this pizza, I also used it as an opportunity to make my own pizza dough. Well, I tried to make my own pizza dough. I had the hardest time shaping it and rolling it out, and once I finally got it and pre-baked it, it grew about 4 inches in height and just didn't taste good. Thank goodness I doubted myself and picked up some backup Boboli crusts just in case....
I made 2 personal pizzas instead of 1 big one. My pizza followed the original recipe exactly, but I made a few changes to Jon's including adding pizza sauce and some shredded pizza cheese.
I was SO happy with these! The soy sauce with the meat adds great flavor, and the cheese sauce is to die for. Note - make extra cheese sauce because it's great poured over nachos or in a quesadilla! I actually had some leftover meat and peppers too, so the next day I made cheesesteak quesadillas using those ingredients and the cheese sauce.
* A few notes on the recipe and ingredients.
- The original recipe calls for flank steak. If you don't have flank steak, try rib eye (put it in the freezer for a bit so you can slice it super thin). Another option is using frozen thinly sliced steaks packaged for cheesesteaks - note, not SteakUms but meat frozen in a meat pack by the butcher. These work fine and will save you some cooking time, and they can be shredded as you cook them instead of sliced after cooking.
- Also, the cheese sauce is a must. Don't get worried that there isn't any cheese that melts on the pizza while it is baking - you won't need it with this cheese sauce. When you make the cheese sauce, try adding some American cheese to it to make it super creamy.
- One final note - make extra of everything! Trust me, you will be happy to have leftovers!
Philly Cheesesteak Pizza
Source: The Redhead Baker
Ingredients
- 8 oz flank steak, halved lengthwise (or rib eye or frozen thinly sliced steaks; see my note above)
- 1 tsp black pepper, divided
- Added: salt
- Cooking spray
- 1 large white onion, sliced vertically
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 ½ tsp soy sauce
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 oz (½ cup) extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes
- If you are using raw dough you will need: 12 to 16 oz raw pizza dough, store-bought or homemade; 1 tbsp cornmeal and 2 tsp olive oil. Alternatively you can use a pre-cooked crust such as Boboli
- Place a pizza stone or heavy baking sheet in your oven, and preheat oven to 500° (keep stone or baking sheet in oven).
- Season steak on both sides with 1/2 tsp pepper and salt. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the skillet with cooking spray. Add the steak to the pan; cook for 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan; let stand 5 minutes. Cut steak across the grain into very thin slices. (or shred meat as you cook - see my note above)
- If you are using raw dough: Flour a clean, flat surface. Place the dough on the flour and roll into a 14-inch circle; pierce liberally with a fork. Carefully remove the pizza stone or baking sheet from oven, and sprinkle with cornmeal. Arrange the dough on the pizza stone/baking sheet. Bake at 500° for 10 minutes or until browned and crisp.
- While the crust bakes, return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Add the onion and bell peppers; sauté for 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add steak; sauté 30 seconds or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, onion powder and soy sauce. Arrange steak mixture over crust.
- Combine milk and flour in a small pot; stir with a whisk until smooth. Place on the stove over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in your cheeses, whisking until smooth. Drizzle the cheese mixture over the pizza.
- Cut into 8 wedges and serve.
