Pizza Chronicles: Philly Cheesesteak

Welcome to the next installment of the Pizza Chronicles! So far, I consider my pizza excursions (BBQ chicken, Buffalo chicken, and Mexican) to be wild successes. I'm very happy to report that the Philly cheesesteak pizza continues in the proud tradition of inexpensive, easy, and fun pies.

Ingredients:

1 Boboli Pizza Crust

1 Package of Cheesesteak-style Sliced Steaks (a la Steak-Ums)

1/2 Large Onion

1/2 Green Bell Pepper

1 Handful of Sliced Mushrooms

Sliced Provolone Cheese

Ketchup

Steps/Analysis:

Feel free to skip ahead if you're already familiar with my basic pizza making steps. Newcomers, take heed.

Set your oven to 415 degrees. Brush a little olive oil on the pizza crust and let it crisp up in the oven for about ten minutes. This is another high-stacked pie (similar to my Mexican pizza) so the structural integrity of the crust is very important.

Give your veggies a rough chop and saute in a little oil over Medium-High heat. Stir occasionally and keep an eye on them. You'll want to pull them off the stove before they completely caramelize and turn into mush.

Place your steaks in a separate pan over Medium-High heat and salt and pepper liberally. I bought a package of 16 steaks, which worked out perfectly for two pies, so I'm going to say 8-10 steaks is the right amount if you're just making one.

Use a spatula (or two, if necessary) to separate, flip, chop, and generally pulverize the steaks as they are cooking. You don't want to take a bite and pull all your toppings off, so aim for roughly bite-size pieces, maybe a little bigger.

They steaks will finish up in 10-15 minutes, but check along the way and pull them once you don't see any more red. When they're done, carefully drain the grease from the pan.

Next, turn your attention to your pizza crust. I decided to lay down a thin base coat of ketchup so that the meat would have something to grab onto, but, looking back, this may be an unnecessary step. Pile the steaks on the crust and top with a layer of onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Then, deal out the sliced provolone to cover everything in a uniform, cheesy blanket.

Return the pizza to the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly brown and bubbly. Slice and plate.

Serving/Analysis:

Ketchup and hot sauce are musts, in terms of condiments. I served my Philly cheesesteak pizza with a side of sweet potato fries (but that's mostly because I had a really good coupon for them last week).

I have no complaints about the outcome of this recipe. It worked out just as I had hoped. If you want to get fancy, I have a feeling some pizza sauce would compliment it well.