Steak and Cheese Ciabatta Bread

Steak and Cheese Ciabatta Bread…Hearty ciabatta bread smeared with a tart and slightly spicy spread, piled with savory, flavorful flank steak cooked to perfection, covered with caramelized onions and sweet red bell peppers, then smothered with delicious melty provolone cheese… how can you go wrong here!

I love a steak and cheese sandwich. Who doesn’t!  But for me the bread to steak ratio is usually a little off…if you know what I mean.  So to fix that pesky problem I decided to use half of the bread and twice the steak…problem solved!   For these two breads I used about 2.5 pounds of flank steak and a pound of provolone cheese.  You say excessive….I say perfection!

Let’s get down to business!  First liberally salt and pepper the steaks and allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes or even better yet, give it an hour if you have the time.  This will allow them to cook more evenly and it won’t take as long for the steaks to come to your desired temperature.

While your steak is hanging out on the counter you can get the rest of your prep done.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Slice peppers and onions into strips.  Add olive oil to skillet and cook the peppers and onions until they are soft and caramelized.To make the spicy parmesan spread, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, parmesan cheese (hopefully you are grating your own 😉 ), cayenne and whisk together until well combined.

Slice the ciabatta loaf in half, long ways and coat each side with the spicy parmesan spread.  Cover the bread with half of the provolone cheese, making sure you have every millimeter covered with cheese!  Place the cheese covered bread on a sheet pan.When you are ready to cook your steak, preheat the oven to 375° and heat griddle over medium high heat. (Or if you prefer, cook those steaks on the grill!)  When it’s good and hot, cook steaks 4-7 minutes per side depending on the size of your steaks and how you like your steaks prepared.  Use an instant read thermometer to check for your desired doneness.  I took them off at about 130° degrees which is on the rare side, but the steak will cook a little longer in the oven.  Remove from the steaks from the griddle and allow to rest.While the steaks are resting put the ciabatta bread covered with spread and provolone in the oven until the bread is warm and the cheese is melting, about 5 minutes or so.Slice the steak into thin slices, against the grain.  Cut the slices into bite sized pieces and place on top of the cheesy ciabatta bread.  Cover the steak with peppers and onions and then top with the remaining cheese.Place the steak and cheese ciabatta breads in the oven until the cheese is melted and getting brown, bubbly, and delicious.You’ll notice that one of these is a little more…robust that the other.  Well you see, my hubby isn’t fond of the peppers and onion….and my son and I looooove them, so we piled them all on one, and since it was so big we had to add a few extra slices of cheese on ours too.  This dish is totally customizable.  If it were just me I’d saute up a bunch of mushrooms to put on there as well….but my guys don’t like them.  This is great cut into big chunks with a side salad for lunch or dinner, or cut it into small pieces and serve it as an appetizer!  Enjoy, my friends!