Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

Once again, I am inspired by Pinterest, and my husband's belly rejoices!

I found this blog/photo linked to a pin and was slightly discouraged when there was no actual recipe to follow.  I thought, "Aw MAN!! I really wanted to make these..."  And then, it occurred to me that I have been cooking while intermittently (and often not at all) following recipes for 4 years.  I am not a SLAVE to RECIPES! I AM WOMAN!!...I digress...

I feel like I have a pretty good palate and according to hubby I am "horrible at making bad food." So I gave it a shot using only the picture in my head, from the picture on this blog, as a guide.

**Note: I generally loathe stuffed peppers...but enjoy sauteed peppers in fajitas, philly cheesesteaks, etc, so I figured it can't be TOO bad...and I was so right, they're not bad, these are AMAZING

Here is what I did:

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

3 Green Peppers
2 Packages of Roast Beef sandwich meat (I used Aldi's brand that comes in the tiny                tupperware container)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 and 1/2 yellow onions sliced
2 cloves of garlic
3 small cans of mushrooms
1 cup of beef broth
salt, pepper, spices to taste
a little bit of mayo (optional)
About 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
6 slices of mozzarella cheese  (You can sub the shredded for the sliced and use either 2 c                of shredded cheese or 12 slices)

First, I cut the peppers in half from the stem to the bottom, like pictured above.  I pulled out the seeds and the stem.  I sprayed a baking dish with non stick spray and placed the peppers in the pan, open side up.  Place some shredded mozzarella in the bottom of each pepper (or one slice if you're using only slices)

I sliced the onion and chopped the garlic while my olive oil was heating in a LARGE skillet over medium-med/high heat.  Once the oil was hot, I put the onion/garlic in the pan and sauteed it until the onions began to caramelize.  I like deliciously soft onions bursting with savory sweetness so I sauteed mine for about 10-15 minutes.  If you want yours firmer, lessen that time.  Don't let them burn, if they start to, turn the heat down.

I usually use fresh mushrooms, but I cook on a budget, and my favorite discount grocery store, Aldi, was out of fresh mushrooms, so I went with canned.  If you substitute fresh, you could probably go with 2 small tubs from the produce aisle.  I dumped in the mushrooms and sauteed for another few minutes to let the flavors marry.

While this was going on, I took the roast beef out of the packaging an cut it into squares/chunks.  This part doesn't have to be perfect, as long as its in bite-size pieces like a philly cheesesteak.  I put the meat in when it was cut and stirred it in.  I then added a cup of beef broth to the mixture and brought to a boil.  I added salt and pepper and a few dashes of Emril's Essence spice because I had it laying around.  If you don't, you can use steak seasoning or just salt and pepper and add whatever you like.

Once most of the liquid from the beef broth has evaporated, the mixture should look like the filling for a philly cheesesteak.  Spoon some of the mixture into each pepper, filling them to the brim.  Bake the peppers at 375 for about 20-30 minutes until the peppers are soft.

I then took the peppers out, then I spread a little bit of mayo on the tops of each pepper because my hubby likes mayo on his philly cheesesteak, but if you don't it shouldn't affect the flavor.  Top each pepper with a slice of cheese or some shredded cheese and put back into the oven for another 10 minutes (make sure the cheese is melted a bubbly).

I would suggest letting them cool a few minutes before serving...they were pretty inside when we ate them and I burned my mouth a little haha  I served the peppers with biscuits.

Enjoy!!