Italian Beef Hoagie – Yum!

[Savvy Nana]

The holidays are here ready for planning party! That means most of us are busy, busy, busy! This time of year planning and preparing daily family meals becomes yet another chore tacked on to our list of daily chores. I try to make my life easier and my family fed by having ready to serve or easy to prepare ingredients on hand. One of our family favorites is this Italian Beef Hoagie.

I make beef filling in the crock-pot, so it cooks even if I’m out shopping. I use a large roast so that there will be lots of left overs to save for another day. It keeps for several days in the fridge, in fact the flavor gets better with age, just like beef stew! Or I can freeze it and heat it up when I’m ready to throw a sandwich together.

I usually pick up a loaf or two of french rolls on my way home for these hoagies, or if I have time I bake my own bread using Bridge ford frozen bread dough. Served with soup or salad this hoagie makes a delicious and hearty meal.

Ingredients:

3-4 pound chuck roast
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 can Rotel – Italian flavored if you can find it
1 can Beef Broth
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup Peperoncini
1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers
1/4 cup pimiento

Jalapenos to taste – I usually don’t add this to the crock pot because my baby grandchildren have this too. I can spice things up, but I can’t un-spice them, so we add the jalapenos when we assemble the sandwich.
Crusty rolls

Provolone Slices or other cheese slices

Directions:

Place all ingredients except bread and cheese into crock pot.

Cook for 4-6 hours or until beef is falling apart.

Using 2 forks shred the beef.

You can now cool it off and store or make sandwiches.

Sandwich assembly:

BeefIf beef is cold, remove any solidified fat and warm it up a bit.

Split roll in half, but don’t cut thru.

Place one slice of cheese on the bread.

Add desired amount of beef, spoon some sauce over it.

Place another slice of cheese on the beef.

Add more pepperoncini, roasted red peppers, and jalapenos if desired.

Place sandwich on parchment covered sheet and broil on high until cheese melts. and bread starts to toast around the edges.

Remove from oven and serve.

You can serve this with a small bowl of the sauce (heated up) for dipping. Yummy!