Savory beef meatballs stuffed with provolone cheese, nestled on a bed of sautéed onions, mushrooms and peppers all under a blanket of provolone cheese sauce.

I mean!

The meatball ingredients are pretty straight forward.

I know that the classic Philly Cheesesteak does not necessarily have sautéed onions – you can order ‘wit’ (with) or ‘wit-out’ (without) fried onions.

I’m definitely a ‘wit’ onions girl, so I sautéed some fine diced onion and put them right into the meatballs.

Along with cubes of provolone cheese.

Yes, I stuffed a 1/2″ cube of cheese inside each of the meatballs before baking them at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes.

These Philly Cheesesteak Meatballs fresh from the oven were melt in your mouth delicious! Nice and juicy with an oozy cheesy center.

But we didn’t stop there.

The meatballs alone would make a dynamite appetizer served with a provolone cheese dipping sauce.

But load them into a hoagie roll with some sautéed onion, mushrooms and peppers and drizzle of cheese sauce and you’ll think you’ve died and gone straight to Philadelphia!

Which I’ve had the pleasure of doing several times.

What a great city!

Lovely architecture, loads of history, Philly Cheesesteaks of course, and a great street culture scene painted with colorful murals.

If you haven’t been to Philadelphia I hope you get the chance one day.

Until then, you can get a taste of it by making Philly Cheesesteak Meatballs at home!

Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook!

All my best,
xo Libby

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Philly Cheesesteak Meatballs

These Philly Cheesesteak Meatballs fresh from the oven were melt in your mouth delicious! Nice and juicy with an oozy cheesy center.

Course Entree or Appetizer

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup onion fine diced
• 18 1/2 inch cubes provolone cheese about 2 ounces
• 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (Gluten Free for GF Version)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic & Herb Seasoning recipe on blog
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pound ground beef

For the Cheese Sauce

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon flour (or arrow root for gluten free)
• 1 cup milk
• 6 ounces provolone cheese grated
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
• salt & pepper to taste

For Serving (optional)

• 4 hoagie rolls or party toothpicks
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
• 3 Italian long hot peppers or 1 green bell pepper sliced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil for sauteeing vegetables

Instructions

For the Meatballs

• Preheat oven to 400° F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Saute onion in olive oil over medium high heat, just until beginning to brown. Cut provolone into 18 – 1/2-inch cubes.
• Combine remaining meatball ingredients, except ground beef. Fold in ground beef and mix just until combined. Form into 18 meatballs, pressing a cheese cube into the center of each, and rolling with hands to encase. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

For the Cheese Sauce

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, continue whisking until flour is bubbling 1-2 minutes. Whisk in cold milk and continue to stir until sauce comes to a low boil. Add in shredded provolone and parmesan cheese. Stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For Serving (optional)

• Saute mushrooms, onions and peppers in olive oil until begining to caramelize. If serving as hoagies, toast rolls. Fill with sauteed veggies, meatballs and drizzle with cheese sauce. If serving as appetizer meatballs, place sauteed veggies in serving bowl, topped with meatballs and cheese sauce. Serve with party toothpicks.

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Roasted Italian Veggie Grilled Cheese Sandwich {on Kalamata Olive Ciabatta}.

It all began with the ‘featured’ bread at the bakery counter yesterday.  Kalamata Olive Ciabatta Rolls.  Combine that with my desire to build a better-than-the-last Grilled Cheese Sandwich…and we may have a new winner.

This kalamata olive ciabatta roll was so fresh with pieces of olives baked right in.  It was just begging to be paired with some mild Italian cheeses.  I chose provolone and parmesan.

Next was a veggie round up.  As you can see I pretty much used a bit of everything, including a lovely eggplant I purchased at the market.  I debated on grilling or roasting the veggies.  Both methods would work well when making this sandwich.  I decided on the easy way out….thinly sliced veggies, drizzled with Tuscan Herb olive oil, sprinkled with some garlic & herb seasoning, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.  Then into a hot oven (450 degrees) for 10 minutes, flip the pieces and roast for another 10 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly.

I built this sandwich open faced to begin so that both sides of the ciabatta roll could get some pan grilled love.  Then I layered all the veggies, sandwiched between provolone and parmesan cheese, and used my bacon press to help it get a nice sear.

This post is less about being a recipe and intended to be more of an inspiration.  I used veggies that were on hand or readily available.  The key is to have a variety of flavors and colors that become so lovely when grilled or roasted.  I had even planned to add black olives and banana peppers, but in the end decided to let them be a side.

I wasn’t sure how this vegetarian Roasted Italian Veggie Grilled Cheese Sandwich would go over with my bacon loving friends.  So I split it (that’s how I can stay on my ‘healthy living’ course and still enjoy grilled cheese sandwiches).  I ate my half only minutes after the above picture was taken.  I may have still been on my front porch when I took my first bite.  They waited a bit before he ventured in.  I asked what thhe thought.  “There’s a lot going on with this one.  A cornucopia of flavors.  It’s fantastic.”  Well there you have it folks.

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Roasted Italian Veggie Grilled Cheese Sandwich {on Kalamata Olive Ciabatta}

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 1 kalamata olive ciabatta roll cut in half (2 slices or favorite crusty bread)
• 1/4 lb. provolone cheese sliced
• 1 oz. Parmesan cheese grated
• 6 slices eggplant
• 6 button mushrooms sliced
• 1 medium zucchini sliced lengthwise
• 1 slice red onion
• 1 leek whites only sliced
• 1 roasted red pepper
• 1 medium tomato sliced
• 1 head roasted garlic
• 1 handful of fresh spinach leaves
• 2 Tbl. Tuscan herb olive oil or EVOO
• 1 tsp. Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning
• sea salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• 1 Tbl. butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Slice veggies (all but fresh spinach) and toss in olive oil. Arrange in a single layer on a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with Mrs. Dash and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, using thongs turn veggies over, bake another 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
• Spread roasted garlic on ciabatta roll. Melt butter In a medium skillet. Add ciabatta roll halves. Layer each with provolone cheese. Alternately stack roasted veggies, fresh spinach leaves, and Parmesan cheese on the bottom half. Replace top and use a bacon press (or cast iron skillet) to weight the sandwich. Grill until golden brown and cheese is melty.

Notes

The key with this sandwich is to have a variety of flavors and colors that become so lovely when grilled or roasted. Feel free to substitute according to what you have on hand or favor.

The post Roasted Italian Veggie Grilled Cheese Sandwich {on Kalamata Olive Ciabatta} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.