Stuffed Pork Chops

I can’t say that pork chops are an item that are served all that often in my house. I have nothing against pork chops. In fact, there are even a few pork chop recipes that could be found on this site from way back in my early days of blogging. I just don’t tend to gravitate towards the pork chop section of the super market. However, a recent sale on thick cut pork chops gave me the urge to experiment once again with ‘the other white meat.’

I actually had a stuffed pork chop recipe bookmarked from a while back that I found to be inspirational, yet never got around to working my own magic with it. A recent rare Saturday night with both kids out at birthday parties made for the perfect dinner date opportunity for my wife and I. Instead of using the recipe’s recommended spinach, diced capicola and provolone stuffing with bone-in chops, I decided to go with a stuffing made of cherry tomatoes, kale and feta cheese in the boneless chops (not that the original recipe sounded any less appealing…sometimes you just have to use whatever ingredients you have on hand). The stuffing ingredients proved to be a great choice. Nice flavor, not too overpowering, and a great complement to the chops.

If you would like to give this recipe a try, I would highly suggest that you soak the chops in a brine prior to stuffing them, even if just for one hour. Pork chops, especially thick cut, can tend to be a little tough and dry, regardless of how they are cooked. One hour in a simple brine will help make your pork chops all the tastier! My brine of choice could be found at the end of this post.

Stuffed Pork Chops

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces (3 handfuls) chopped kale or spinach
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 thick cut pork chops (could use boneless or bone-in), soaked in brine*

Preheat oven to 375˚.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Add kale, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and the Italian seasoning; cook, stirring, just until kale is wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the kale mixture to a medium-size bowl; let cool completely. When cool, add the chopped tomatoes, feta and egg; gently stir to combine completely.

Place the pork chops on a flat work surface; cut a slit horizontally to form a deep pocket. Stuff each chop with 1/4 of the stuffing. Secure chops with toothpicks.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet. Add chops; cook 2 minutes per side or until browned. Place chops in single layer in a baking dish just large enough to hold them. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bake the chops in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the internal temperature registers 155 degrees on an instant-read thermometer when inserted in the pork. Timing may vary depending on your oven, so be sure to follow the suggested temperature reading if possible. Remove chops to a platter; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

*Brine Recipe

4 cups water
4 tablespoons kosher salt
1.5 tablespoon sugar

Pour the water, salt and sugar into a small pot and heat over high heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the salt and sugar completely dissolve and the water starts to bubble. Do not bring to a full boil. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

Place the pork chops into a bowl, then pour the cooled brine over the chops. Cover and place in the refrigerator for one to one and a half hours.

Remove chops from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Discard the brine mixture.

Beans and Greens Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a very popular and hearty dish that could be prepared in a number of tasty ways. On this food blog alone, you could find quite a few stuffed pepper recipes from previous posts, including ground turkey and rice stuffed peppers, crab-stuffed bell peppers, stuffed peppers and eggs, grilled Mediterranean stuffed peppers, and Aunt Tina’s stuffed peppers recipe, which uses an old world bread style stuffing that may be my favorite stuffing recipe of all time (links to all of these recipes can be found at the end of this post).

Because I have been experimenting lately with recipes that are heart healthy, yet still bursting with flavor, I decided to use a modified version of a beans and greens recipe as pepper stuffing. Beans and greens – which is another rustic and flavorful classic – could also be prepared in a number of ways, using various ingredients. Just the greens alone could take you in a number of directions. Spinach, escarole, mustard greens, Swiss chard and broccoli rabe will all work well. I’ve selected kale as my green for this go-around, but you could substitute it with any of the above mentioned, or any other favorite leafy green of your choice. For the beans, I’m using canned garbanzo beans. Cannellinni beans (or white kidney beans) would be my second choice for this dish. If you are up to the task, you could purchase and prepare fresh garbanzo or cannellini beans, but you’ll need to set aside some time to have them ready to roll for this dish. You can check out various methods on how to prepare fresh beans by clicking here.

What I really like about this recipe is that it starts off very basic, and is accommodating to many diets. Just a few spices and seasonings are enough to give it real taste and flavor. I added some cooked quinoa to the fold, and I’ve also decided to kick things up a bit by adding some bacon to the mix and sautéeing the beans and greens in a bit of the bacon grease for some real flavor. Of course, you could eliminate the bacon portion if you do not want to add meat to the recipe. But if you are looking for some knock-down flavor, I suggest you give it a try. Shrimp would also be a nice addition if you wish.

Instead of removing the cap of the bell pepper and stuffing it from the top, I went with halving the peppers length-wise, so that the peppers could sit flat on the dish. Not only does it make for nice presentation, it also makes stuffing the pepper a bit easier…and less messy to eat!

No Peppers? No Worries!

If you are not a fan of peppers, or maybe just don’t have any on hand, I suggest you still give this stuffing recipe a try. It would work fabulously served over pasta, or even just served on its own as a warm salad.

Whichever ingredients you decide to incorporate, or whichever method you decide to serve it, I can guarantee you that this recipe will leave you stuffed and satisfied.

Beans and Greens Stuffed Peppers

4 bell peppers (your choice of color), cut in half length-wise with membrane and seeds removed
*4 oz pancetta, diced, or 4 slices of thick cut bacon, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, diced
1 15 oz can cannellini or garbanzo beans
8 ounces of kale (or your preference of leafy green)
olive oil (if needed)
1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken broth (if needed)
salt and pepper
shredded cheese for topping (optional)

* If you prefer not to use pancetta or bacon in this recipe, simply start by sautéeing the onion in olive oil. Other additional ingredients that would work well with this filling are cooked quinoa, rice or other grains (approximately 1/2 cup cooked). You could also sauté shrimp before adding the beans and greens to the mix.

Also, you could prepare the filling ahead of time. Simply refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 400˚.

Sauté pancetta or bacon pieces in a large pan over medium heat until crispy and fat is rendered, about 7-10 minutes. Remove pancetta or bacon and set aside.

Add onion to rendered fat in the pan (or start with olive oil if you are not using pancetta or bacon grease), sauté until onions are soft and translucent (add additional olive oil if needed). Add beans, stir together, cook until heated.

Add the kale, stir together. You can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chick broth if needed, to help cook down the kale. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you are using the pancetta or bacon, you will not need to add much additional salt for taste.

Once the kale is cooked down, add the pancetta or bacon back to the pan.

While the stuffing is heating up, prepare your peppers by slicing them in half lenght-wise and scooping out and discarding the seeds and membrane. Place the peppers in a baking dish (open side up), and carefully stuff each of the peppers with the stuffing. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Carefully remove foil, top the peppers with some shredded cheese (optional), and place back into the oven uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

The beans and greens, heated up and ready to be used as a stuffing, a topping on pasta, or as a warm side salad.

The peppers….stuffed, baked and ready to be enjoyed.

Previously featured Stuffed Pepper recipes:

Ground Turkey and Rice Stuffed Peppers
Crab-stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed Peppers and Eggs 
Grilled Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers
Aunt Tina’s Stuffed Peppers

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Derby Day!

It’s Cinco de Derby! Or is it Derby de Mayo? Whatever you prefer to call it, this Saturday will prove to be a day full of fun festivities and fancy hats to honor both The Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo. Of course, both of these events are celebrated with tasty theme-related food and drink. Having the opportunity to celebrate both events on the same day raises the bar for creative party planning. Bourbon margaritas, anyone?

While my initial plans were to put together a tasty hybrid dish to represent both party themes, my research just brought up way too many fantastic food and drink options that honor both the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo.

The links below will be sure to place your Derby de Mayo celebration in the winner’s circle. And a Cucina Domenico blog post wouldn’t be complete without some kind of Italian inspiration. Click on the links blow to get your party started!

Cinco De Mayo recipes

Kentucky Derby recipes

Italian Guacamole recipe

Italian-style Quesadillas recipe

Nutella and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast

Another Nor’easter in the Philadelphia area…another day spent indoors, figuring out what to eat next. If you’re stocked up on the snowstorm essentials (bread, eggs and milk), try giving this decadent recipe a shot. With just a few additional ingredients (sliced fruit of your choice, and my two favorite Italian spreads, Nutella and Mascarpone), this breakfast beauty will be sure to add a little sunshine to yet another dreary winter’s day!

Nutella and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast

Makes 3 stuffed sandwiches
6 slices of bread (white or wheat are preferable)
sliced fruit (my personal choices are banana and strawberries)
Nutella (any other brand of hazelnut spread will work)
Mascarpone cheese (you can also use cream cheese)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk

Start by lightly toasting the bread (it helps hold the sandwich together). Spread one piece of the toast with Nutella, spread another piece with Mascarpone cheese. Add the fresh sliced fruit to the two pieces of bread to make a sandwich. Repeat with the other four slices of bread and remaining fruit.

Mix together the egg, vanilla extract, cinnamon and milk. Dip the sandwiches into the egg batter.

Cook the sandwiches on a lightly greased medium hot skillet or griddle until golden brown on both sides. Top with powdered sugar and serve with syrup on the side.