Handy With a Skillet

Between bouts of revisions and writing and querying and painting, I decided to invent a dish inspired by this quarter's LCBO Food & Drink Magazine. They had some cast iron skillet supper recipes, and my brain said, "DO SOMETHING WITH STEAK!"

So, today I did it. It passed the husband test, so I'm sharing it with you. Please note: I don't post recipes the normal way, I type the way I think, which can be a bit haphazard. I hope you can follow my train of thought.

Steak Sandwich Skillet Pizza

INGREDIENTS:

1 store bought pizza dough, room temperature, or make your own, enough for one medium pizza.

6-8 oz. boneless steak. I used 2 portions of Walmart Black River Angus Frozen Steak, thawed and sliced.

1 large sweet red pepper, sliced thinly

1 Small onion, sliced thinly

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp Caramelized Onion– I found a jar of President's Choice at the Real Canadian Super Store. It's tasty, not too sweet or salty. If you don't have store bought, make your own. Google it...? Or leave it out, whatever.

½ cup broccoli florets, frozen or fresh (optional 'cause hubby didn't like those during the focus group testing, but I liked it)

2 tbsp steak sauce plus a bit to drizzle (I used HP Sauce)

½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

1-3 oz stout or whisky or chicken stock to deglaze pan

1 Tsp. Worcestershire sauce or to taste.

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Press the dough in an oiled, seasoned 9 inch cast iron skillet. Push it up around edges of the pan. Prebake for 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry steak in a bit of oil (also seasoned with salt & pepper) in a sautée pan. Drizzle some Worcestershire while it's browning. When browned, set aside, covered in a bit of foil.

If the five minutes are up for the skillet dough, take it out of the oven and put the pan in a safe place.

Meanwhile, add a bit more oil to the sautée pan and cook the vegetables with garlic and salt & pepper, until tender.

Remove vegetables to a bowl.

Deglaze the sautée pan with good stout. I didn't have any so I used an ounce or two of Scotch and a bit of chicken stock, to loosen up the "fond" or browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Scrape the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula, and let the liquid thicken a bit.

Tip the deglazed mixture into the bowl of vegetables. Add the caramelized onion if you have it. Add the two tablespoons of steak sauce, and mix.

Spread the veggie mixture into the partially baked crust. Spread the cooked steak on top of that.

Top everything with shredded mozzarella and a drizzle of steak sauce.

EDITED: Bake a further 10-20 minutes in oven. I originally said 20 minutes, but if the oven is at 450F, I can't remember if I really had it at that temperature. Perhaps reduce the oven a bit, and keep an eye on it! Take it out when the crust is a nice brown.

Drizzle with more steak sauce if you wanna.

Serves four normal people, or two really hungry ones.