Philly Cheesesteak Soup Mmmmm!

Years ago when I worked for Hewlett-Packard and had to go on a business trip to Atlantic City, we flew into Philadelphia.  One of my co-workers and I were dying to try a real Philly Cheesesteak.  So we searched for a good walk up counter place and ordered.  We devoured the thing in minutes it was so good and oh-so-bad on the heart!  Luckily, we have a new pizza place close by called Vito's and the owners moved here from Philly about a year ago.  We are in love with their cheesesteaks and they even ship the dough in from Philly.

So, I was looking through magazines one day and saw a recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Soup.  I knew I had to make it - I could eat soup everyday, I love it.  So, here is the recipe...

1/8 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced into 1/2 strips
2 large green bell peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch strips
3-4 garlic cloves (the more the better in my opinion, I'm a garlic lover)
1 1/2 pounds top round steak, sliced into 1x 1/2 inch pieces
1 quart of beef broth
1 (10.5-ounce) can beef consomme
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
Toasted French rounds
Provolone cheese

In large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions, bell peppers and garlic for 8-10 minutes, stir frequently- (I like my onions well done, so I cooked mine for about 15 minutes).

Add steak, cook for 10 minutes , stirring frequently until browned.  Add beef broth, consomme, water, salt and pepper stirring to combine.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for two hours or until meat is tender.  Stir occasionally.  Add thyme and simmer for five minutes.  Ladle soup into oven proof bowl, top with toasted French rounds and Provolone cheese.  Broil 6 inches from heat for three minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly.  Enjoy!!

***You may want to decrease the salt to 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon or you may want to wait and see if it needs any salt at all.  I added the entire 1 teaspoon and ended up adding three cups of water so it was not as salty.  I think the broth and the consomme had extra salt I forgot about!

Overall it was so yummy!!  Tim loved it, he told me how good it was about four times while he ate it.  I actually let it simmer for about 3 hours instead of 2 hours.  The meat was really tender!