Pigs are the blanket!
You all remember pigs in a blanket, right? We popped open those ready made dough tubes trying not to scare the crap out of ourselves (I always hated that tube pop!), wrapped it around a hot dog, and into the oven it went. I guess it was a way to gussy up a hot dog, but honestly it wasn’t my jam. Even Trader Joe’s tried
So this time I decided to make the pig the blanket and fill it with tasty and colorful ingredients…no ready made dough in this recipe! Of course my boneless pork chops came from Butcher Box and are certified heritage breed pork humanely raised, free of any antibiotics and hormones. If you’re going to eat pork it’s really the only way to go.
This is one of those meals that comes together very easily on a weeknight, but still serves up like you slaved away in the kitchen. Also it can be totally adapted based on what you have in your refrigerator at any given moment. I happened to have spinach, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese on hand, so that was my filling, but change out a few ingredients and bam, you have yourself another new recipe
Four boneless pork chops
2 cups of fresh spinach
1 – 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese
6 Campari tomatoes (bigger than a cherry tomato, but smaller than a roma)
Kerrygold Butter (2 tablespoons)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Cut a pocket into the pork chop by slicing in half, be careful not to cut all the way through. Stuff chop with spinach, tomatoes, and cheese. Use toothpicks to close up the chops to make sure the filling doesn’t come out. Salt and pepper both sides of the chops. Bring an ovenproof pan over medium high heat and melt butter. Place all four chops in the pan and let them brown for 3 minutes, flip them over and let them brown another 3 minutes. Place the pan in the oven and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Pull out of the oven and let rest for about 3 – 4 minutes unless you want to burn the crap out of your mouth (I know I don’t want to). Serve with broccoli (because why not more veggies) and a side of crusty sourdough or potatoes.
Wine to pair?
Yes I’m going to say it again; Pinot Noir. Sorry, but pork and pinot are meant to be together. They’re like peanut butter and jelly, or hamburger and fries, or eggs and champagne, or cookies and milk…I could go on and on, but you get my drift. For this particular meal I opened our house wine, which currently is 2017 Anderson Valley Navarro Vineyards Pinot Noir. As I’m typing this I’m staring at our last bottle which means it’s time to order more. This is a really great smaller vineyard we found during trips to Mendocino and they make a consistently delicious Pinot Noir. We buy this wine 2 cases at a time, which should say volumes about how much we enjoy this food and cost friendly wine.
So flip the script on pigs in a blanket and try this easy, delicious and
