Recipe: Bacon and Apple Stuffed Pork Chops

October 31, 2012

Submitted by Karen Coello.

Serves 6. Preparation 45 mins.

Ingredients:

  • 6 1″ thick pork chops (loin chops from the supermarket work okay. Too thick and it takes too long to cook when hungry!)
  • 2 Tbsp butter (I use a bit less)
  • 2 medium baking apples (Gala works well), peeled, cored and diced
  • 10 strips of bacon, diced ( I don’t do this much)
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped (I’ve used oregano if I don’t have sage)
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

 

Method:

  1. Ask your butcher to “pocket” your baking chops.  If you need to do it yourself, use a 4-6″ knife and pierce the fatty side of the chop. Wiggle your knife side to side until your “pocket” is about 5″ long and 3″ wide (70% of the chop).
  2. In a medium pan (we recommend a cast iron skillet or dutch oven), melt butter over medium-high heat.
  3. Cook apples, bacon and onion until onion is softened and bacon is crispy, about 8 minutes.
  4. Add garlic, sage, paprika and lemon juice and toss for 2 minutes.
  5. Remove stuffing from heat, transfer to bowl and set-aside.
  6. Salt and pepper each side of pork chop, stuff it with as much stuffing as you can fit and use a skewer or toothpick to close and prevent spilling (about half of the stuffing will be leftover).
  7. Insert pork chops into the hot pan to sear on each side, cook each side of the chops for 5 minutes in hot pan over medium-high heat.
  8. Transfer pan/dutch oven to 350 degree oven and bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
  9. To serve, warm remaining stuffing and spoon on top of each chop.

 

Kaz says:

My daughter insists on doing the job of creating the pockets in the chops and peeling the apples. Another job she insists on doing is stuffing the chops – I do hope that with time she will get faster at this! This recipe is her current favourite. I minimise the oven time by cooking the chops in the pan a bit longer.

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Dan Williams is the Director of Range of Motion and leads a team of Exercise Physiologists, Sports Scientists, Physiotherapists and Coaches. He has a Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Health Science) and a Postgraduate Bachelor of Exercise Rehabilitation Science from The University of Western Australia, with minors in Biomechanics and Sport Psychology.

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