THE BEST mushroom cheesesteak sandwich

A local restaurant that we often walk to had a special a few months ago that Bill and I fell in love with… a mushroom cheesesteak. It was unctuous and creamy… packed with flavor. Well it was a special and as fast as it came, it was gone. Well over the past two years I’ve been incorporating more and more mushrooms into my diet. Honestly I was never a fan. But over time, I’ve learned which ones I love and enjoy creating new recipes that we can dive into. This is one of those!

I will apologize for the lack of quality in my photos. I was making this dish and sharing on Insta stories to an overwhelming request to share. It was dark out and the quality of natural light was clearly missing. Will update pics in the future.

Ingredients:

1-2 tbl of Olive or Avocado Oil
1 medium sized yellow onion, finely diced
3 Poblano peppers, sliced into strips
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 lbs of sliced mushrooms (I used a mixed variety and baby portobello) roughly chopped
1 tbl of liquid smoke
1 tbl Vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp of smoked paprika
Freshly cracked peppers
1 tsp of salt

Vegan cheese:
Eyeballing this amount to how much you prefer. I’d say 1/4 cup of cheese (not packed into a measuring cup) and a drizzle of the Miyoko’s. I used a blend of finely grated smoked cheddar (Violife) and Miyoko’s liquid mozzarella

Bread/Rolls:

I opted to use a sourdough baguette sliced into the size I wished to use and then sliced in half.

Method:

Into a large sauté pan add your choice of oil over a medium heat. Then proceed to add your onion and peppers and cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until the onions are softened and the peppers start to cook down and soften a bit. Depending on how thick your slices are, it may require more time to cook the peppers. Remove them and put the peppers and onions on a plate. Then add a drizzle of oil to pan again. Then add your garlic and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are softened and they have released their water (this process takes a bit of time so be patient and keep on stirring). If the heat is too much, lower the temp or keep a watchful eye on the pan. Add your liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, spices and stir to coat.

While the mushrooms are cooking, take a moment to grate your cheese of choice. If you cannot find the liquid mozzarella, use Violife grated mozzarella or Miyoko’s mozzarella ball that you can grate.

When the mushrooms are cooked down substantially – turn the heat off.

Take a baking sheet and place your rolls or baguettes cut side up and open. Carefully spoon your mushrooms on one side of the rolls/bread. Add the peppers and onions and then add the desired amount of cheese and then top with a drizzle of the liquid mozzarella to the top. Broil in your oven at 500 degrees until the cheese is melted and toasted up nicely. We prefer it darker but keep a watchful eye as it can burn quickly. Ours was in the oven about 4 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.