Pork Chop Alla Pizzaiola
The broiler did a decent job go getting some color on the chops
I don’t eat pork chops very often, but they are usually underwhelming. Hopefully these are different.
Time: 1hr 35 min
Difficulty: 1/5
Ingredient Availability: 4/5
I’m not gonna lie, this is another one of those recipes that I had never seen or hear of before. I didn’t really know what to expect, but the picture looked pretty good and the ingredients were pretty simple. I hadn’t had pork chops in a while, either, so I thought that it was a good time to give this recipe a try.
Key Ingredients & Omissions:
Marinated Provolone Ingredients
The Pecorino is not in this picture
Pork Chop Alla Pizzaiola Ingredients
I didn’t have a full cup of the peppers
I used some ingredients from a previous recipe to make this one. I wouldn’t say that any of these ingredients are particularly key, but none of them are to hard to find. You might have some trouble finding pine nuts, but other than that, you should be able to find everything. Nothing was left out of this recipe.
Tools:
Food Processor
Cooking Review:
Making Pesto Marinated Provolone: 19 minutes
I didn’t make as much as this recipe called for, as I only had about 5oz of provolone to work with. After cutting up the provolone and grating the other cheeses, I blanched the basil and dried it thoroughly. As I didn’t have as much cheese as the recipe called for, I just used a hand/stick blender to blend all the ingredients except for the provolone into a pesto. Finally, I mixed the pesto into the provolone and refrigerated it overnight.
Preparing Pork and Making Marinade: 47 Minutes
After chopping up the peppers and tomatoes and grating the garlic, I pounded the pork chops until they were about a quarter of an inch thick and pricked them all over with a fork. I then added all the ingredients for the marinade to the food processor and pulsed until it was similar to a chunky salsa. I then put the food processor on low as I streamed in the olive oil. I transferred the pork chops to a freezer bag along with the marinade. The recipe says to separate the marinade and chops into two bags, but I didn’t see a reason to use another bag.
Broiling: 26 minutes
The recipe doesn’t say which level to put the broiler on, but I put mine on lo as I put my pork chops and marinade into a baking dish lined with aluminum foil. I then put the dish into the oven and let it cook for a total of 20 minutes. At that point, all of the chops registered a temperature of at least 135 degrees Fahrenheit. I spooned some of the marinated provolone on top of the chops and let them broil for another 5 minutes before serving.
Analysis:
I really enjoyed these. I never thought that a sweeter tomatoey sauce would work so well with pork. The chops were pretty tender and juicy while providing yet another new flavor combination for me. The marinated provolone pairs very will with the marinade, balancing the sweet and slightly sour flavors with more savoriness and saltiness. I think the peppers make a big difference in this dish, really adding the sweetness and more unique flavors. All together, this is a very good way to cook your pork. It is very low effort and once you have it marinating, the actually cooking is very low pressure. I’m giving this recipe a 9/10. Although it has all of that going for it, it doesn’t require another recipe to make and the flavors, while interesting, are just a little shallower than a 10 would command.
