Italian Cheesesteak

This is what happens when a Philly cheesesteak and a great Italian sub have a baby. This Italian Cheesesteak is salty, melty, savory, and has just enough acid at the end to keep you reaching for another bite. It's a easy sandwich that tastes like something more.

Sandwiches are my love language.  Tuesday night dinners are most always something like slow cooker french dips or meatball subs. 

That said, I hadn’t expected to fall for this Italian Cheesesteak as hard as I did.

It’s the kind of dinner where everyone at the table goes quiet for a minute.

You can use provolone, and its delicious.  But flavors really go ot the next level with my Philly Cheesesteak Sauce.  It the same one I use on my Blackstone Philly Cheesesteak.  

Ingredients that Make it Italian

The pepperoni. Not stacked on the sandwich like a pizza topping — diced and cooked into the steak. Once it hits hot oil it renders fast, and that fat is gold, giving more flavor to the ribeye.

A touch of marinara. Half a cup for six sandwiches. The instinct is to be generous. Don't. You are not making a meatball sub. 

Banana peppers AND their brine. The peppers add a tangy, slightly sweet pop. The brine adds the bracing acid that keeps this whole rich, cheesy situation from going one-note. 

Provolone or cheese sauce. Provolone is the more classically Italian move.  Cheese sauce gives you that full Philly-style glossy blanket. I've tested both. Both are great. Pick the one you're in the mood for.

How to Make It

Salt the ribeye and let it sit. Either an hour on the counter or — better — overnight in the fridge. This isn't a fussy step you can skip; it's a dry brine. The salt has time to season the meat through, and the surface dries out a little, which means it'll actually sear instead of steam when it hits the pan or Blackstone girddle.

Warm the marinara separately. You're not reducing it. You're just taking the chill off so it doesn't cool the sandwich down. 

Cook the mushrooms and onions, fully. Get your skillet or Blackstone griddle hot. Add the oil, then the mushrooms and onions. The mushrooms are going to give up their water at about minute three and the pan will look depressingly soupy. Hold the line. That water cooks off, the mushrooms re-brown, and the onions go translucent with little caramelized edges.

Now the steak and pepperoni — together. Push the vegetables to one side of the griddle (or scoop them out if you're using a skillet) and add the shaved ribeye and the diced pepperoni at the same time. Thinly cut ribeye cooks in two to four minutes total. The second you see most of the pink gone and the edges starting to crisp and curl, you're done. If you're using provolone, lay it across the meat now and cover with a lid (or upturned sheet pan, if you're on a griddle) for 30 seconds. You want melted, not bubbling. If you're using Philly cheesesteak cheese sauce, you can pour it on now or wait until you build the sandwich.

Build, and eat immediately. Warm marinara on the bottom of each toasted hoagie, then the cheesy steak-and-pepperoni pile, then the onions and mushrooms, then a deliberate drizzle of banana pepper brine right over the top, then the banana peppers themselves.

Butter Toasted Buns

A soft, untoasted hoagie bun will turn to mush under hot, slightly saucy fillings within about ninety seconds. Toast them. And if you want to take it one step further, toast them with garlic butter.

Heat the oven to 350°F.

Stir together:

• ¼ cup soft butter
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning.

Split the buns lengthwise, spread the butter on the cut sides, and bake them cut-side-up on a sheet pan for about 8 minutes — until the butter has melted into the bread and the edges are golden. That's it.

For the bread itself, I love these on my bread machine hoagie buns, but any sturdy hoagie roll from the grocery store works. Avoid anything too soft or too sweet — brioche-style buns will collapse here.

A Few Things I’ve Learned

Don't overcook the steak. Thinly cut ribeye is so thin that it goes from "perfect" to "gray and chewy" in about thirty seconds. Pull it when you can still see some pink in spots. The carryover heat from the cheese melt will finish it.

Don't drown it in marinara. I know. Half a cup feels stingy. Marinara here is a seasoning, not a sauce.  If you want sauce, go for the cheese sauce.

Save the banana pepper brine. When you open the jar, do not pour the brine down the sink. That brine is the secret. You'll use a teaspoon or two per sandwich.

Dice the onion small and even. Big chunks will still be crunchy when the small ones are starting to scorch. Aim for pieces about the size of a pencil eraser.

Get the Blackstone griddle or pan hot before anything goes on it. This sandwich lives or dies on browning. A lukewarm cooking surface gives you boiled-tasting steak and pale, sad onions.