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Steak & Cheese Melt

Thinly sliced cooked steak with onions, green peppers, mushrooms, pickles and cheese is toasted open-face on a hoagie roll.

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The inspiration for this delicious lunch recipe comes from a combination of the Philly cheesesteak, hoagie, steak sub and the open-face melt sandwich. The concept behind these over-sized hunger appeasers is very similar. They’re made with a generous portion of thinly sliced beef, cheese and a variety of optional toppings. Then they’re put into a very hot oven for just enough time to melt the cheese, toast the bread and warm the other ingredients.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Photo: Jimmy Woo

The best of Philadelphia

After its historic sites, like Independance Hall and the liberty bell, Philadelphia is perhaps best known for it’s sandwiches. And there’s nothing that better demonstrates the city’s brotherly love than sharing a mouth-watering hogie or cheesesteak.

The cheesesteak was created by Pat and Harry Olivieri in the 1930s. Because it was sold at their hotdog stand its ingredients are very basic. It’s just thin-sliced steak, onions and cheese melted on a bun. With steady demand of the wildly popular sandwich, Pat decided to open his own restaurant in South Philly. It’s known today as Pat’s King of Steaks and right across the street is rival Geno’s.

Hoagies and subs are closely related in that they are large sandwiches served hot or cold with a variety of deli meats dressed with lettuce and tomato. Additional toppings may include onions, green peppers, cucumbers, pickles, olives and hot peppers. A hot steak hogie or steak sub is basically a cheesesteak plus any of those extra toppings. And like the cheesesteak, they also trace their roots back to Italian American cuisine.

Melt sandwiches have been on menus at traditional America diners as far back as the 1940s. The idea of melts is a variation of the grilled cheese sandwich.

Using pre-cooked steak

One of the top reasons for making this sandwich is that you have some leftover beefsteak. With the cost of top-grade grilling beef these days you really should not be tossing out those leftovers. The preferred cuts are ribeye, striploin, tenderloin (filet minion) or sirloin. Just make sure that you refrigerate the cooked steak within a fairly short time of it being cooked and uneaten.

A nice tender, rare to medium cut is perfect for this recipe. You can also use roast beef. Ideally, you’ll want to use about 12 to 16 ouces of beef. It should yield about 2 cups-worth by the time you slice it thin and chop it into bite-sized pieces.

Your choice of toppings

Topping this baby is just like building a sub, the way you like it, at your local sandwich shop. The ingredients listed in this recipe are suggestions but go ahead and customize it.

Instead of Italian dressing, choose your favourite barbecue sauce, steak sauce, mustard or even horseradish.

For the cheese, Cheddar or Colby work well. In the states, the popular choice is American cheese. Other good choices include provolone and Emmental (Swiss). But for those faithful to the original cheesesteak recipe, it’s got to be Cheez Whiz.   

For the bread

The bread of choice is a hoagie roll. These rolls are chewy on the outside and soft on the inside. They also toast up nicely when baked at high temperatures. Slice them lengthwise and place the crusty side down on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

You can also substitute a Ciabatta or French baguette. A submarine roll will work as well. You’ll spread the beef mixture over the tops of the bread pieces. 

steak & cheese melt

Steak and Cheese Melt

Kevin Lamoureux
Thinly sliced cooked steak with onion, green peppers,mushrooms, pickles barbecue sauce and cheese then baked open-faced on a hoagie roll.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Course lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 2
Calories 693 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 12 oz pre-cooked beefsteak or roast beef chopped thinly
  • ½ cup green pepper chopped
  • ½ cup mushrooms chopped
  • ½ cup onions chopped
  • ½ cup dill pickles chopped
  • cups cheddar or provolone cheese grated
  • 3 tbsp Italian salad dressing
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp fresh pepper
  • 2, hoagie buns

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 450 F.
  • In a large bowl, combine all ingredients (except the buns).
  • Slice the buns in half and place and arrange, open face, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Spread the mixture evenly over the buns.
  • Bake for 10 to 12 minutes then broil for 2 minutes.
  • Serve immediately.

Notes

Garnish with dill pickle.
Nutrition
Per serving
Calories: 693kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 82g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g | Iron: 35mg
Keyword cheese, melt, sandwich, steak

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