Soup of the Week – Philly Cheesesteak Edition

Philly cheesesteaks are not soup you say?

Oh, yes they are now!

OK, really they aren’t. And in fact, this recipe isn’t even a soup – it’s a stew. But believe me when Philly cheesesteaks meet Soup of the Week night, it’s a terrific pairing.

Enter Philly Cheesesteak Stew from The Cozy Apron. I found this recipe on Pinterest several weeks ago, back in the throes of the Never-Ending Polar Vortex. Remember that? The photo was what got me more than the name – all bread bowl and melted cheesy goodness. Anything in bread and under cheese has to be good. But how intriguing is a Philly cheesesteak stew? Very.

The Fab Hub loves a good Philly cheesesteak. While he did not actually grow up in Philadelphia, his parents’ families did and he did end up working and going to school there for a while. So he knows. He knows which is better – Geno’s or Pat’s. He knows how a Philly cheesesteak should taste and how it definitely should not.

I remember the day we ended up seeing our first movie together (which is another story entirely…). It was a rather drawn-out and complicated effort, but it started with us having lunch together at a local tavern – something we did often during our “not dating” phase. The specials board boasted a Philly cheesesteak something or other that day and he tried it. Not a hit.

This stew, however, was. Ingrid from The Cozy Apron was kind enough to allow me to talk about her wonderful stew here. I meant to post several weeks ago, right after we made it…but then that little blog break happened. Tonight it’s damp and rainy and cool – perfect night for something like this!

The stew’s official name on Ingrid’s post is Philly Cheesesteak Stew with Sauteéd Mushrooms and Onions, served in a Sourdough Bread Bowl topped with Melted Provolone. Yes, please! There was no way I was not going to make that after seeing the title and reading through the recipe.

This was one of those recipes I followed to the letter. The only adjustment I made was omitting the mushrooms from the Fab Hub’s portion because there was no way he was going to tolerate that. We used our favorite chipped sirloin from our Farmers’ Market butcher – quite possibly the leanest steak sandwich meat we’ve ever had – and fantastic sourdough bowls from our supermarket’s café section. This turned out perfectly!

The bread bowls are exactly the right thing for serving this and the stew itself is completely delicious. Add the melted provolone on top and you just can’t lose here. We made the full recipe and saved half of it for a second night. The flavors were even better after marrying a bit. Since the Hub and Zilla never mind leftovers, it’s a great option when we know we have a busy night coming up.

A note if you’re serving this for kids: a full-size bread bowl is far too much for Zilla to handle, so we found a clever way to modify for her – we just took the top from one of the bowls and hollowed it out to make Zilla her very own mini-bread bowl! Not quite as eye-catching as the grown-up ones, but it made a terrific serving size modification for Our Girl. She loved it!

Head over to The Cozy Apron to check out Ingrid’s post with delicious photos and get the recipe – I promise you’ll love this one. While you’re there, check out some of Ingrid and Michael’s other recipes and stories – the entire site is just completely welcoming and, well, cozy! It’s one of my newest favorite food sites.

Thanks again to Ingrid for sharing this terrific variation of the classic Philly cheesesteak!

Enjoy!