Philly Cheesesteak Pita-Bread Pizza

 

I know. I get it. With the dessert recipes aside, I've posted three pizza recipes in a row. I must be losing my marbles...

...or perhaps we're just a pizza-loving family. Over these past few months, I'm convinced myself I can put just about anything on a pizza (and oh how I love dessert pizzas, too!), and with so many different breads/dough to use as a crust... it's easy to branch away from the norm. For instance:

Thin Crust Grilled Garden Vegetable Pizza 

Garlic Chicken Alfredo Bacon Pizza

Pizza Muffins 

Tex-Mex Pizza 
Lady Bug Caprese Pizza 
Spicy Chicken Pizza with Pepper Jack Cheese and Cilantro  
Three Cheese White Pizza  
Hawaiian Pizza Muffins  
Roasted Tomato Basil Pizza
Bacon Cheeseburger Calzones  
Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread
Santa Fe Summer BBQ Pizza with Whole Wheat Crust   

 

....just to name a couple recipe I've ventured through this year.  

 

One again, this was another meal where Ryan asked me why I couldn't have just made a philly cheesesteak sandwich... until he tasted it. Let's just say he was more than convinced that you can successfully turn a philly cheesesteak sandwich into a pizza. This pizza is amazing - I've never cooked with Anaheim peppers before, and it didn't take long this afternoon for me to plan another recipe or two with them included. They taste like green peppers but with a little extra somethin'. Also I learned today that pita bread is dynamite for pizzas. It's so easy to throw a few ingredients on and it's the perfect serving size for one plate. 

From the original recipe, I opted out of the hot cherry peppers. It would have been nice for color, but after Ryan spent a couple years eating straight jalapeno salsa in Texas, I have to keep things on the less-spicy side.... or else I think his organs might explode.

Aside from that mental picture, these pizzas were fantastic. Each texture played it's part, and the ''borrowed'' flavor combination was more than convincing. Good, good stuff, my friends.

Philly Cheesesteak Pita-Bread Pizzas

Ingredients:
3 T EVOO
1 small onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 medium Anaheim pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 green pepper, seeded and thinly sliced 
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1 lb thinly sliced flank steak
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
3/4 t salt & 1/2 t pepper
4 pocket-less pitas (white or wheat)
2 C shredded Italian cheese blend (mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan)

Directions:
1. Preheat broiler on low.
2. Heat EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil, in case you don't watch the Food Network) in a large pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add onion and peppers and cook until slightly softened - stirring every so often.
4. Add the garlic and steak pieces and cook until beef begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Cook about one minute, and stir often.
5.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place pitas on baking sheet and brush with a teeny bit of EVOO. Put in oven for about a minute or so - just to get a head start on the crust. Remove crust from oven.
6. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup cheese on each pita. Top each with some beef mixture and then another 1/4 cheese on top of each pita again.
7. Broil the pizzas until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes (edges burn fast!). Cut each pizza into quarters.

Recipe adapted from: The Food Network Magazine, September 2012 Issue