WANT TO MAKE AN ITALIAN INSPIRED PORK CHOP DISH?
I hope you will try my Italian Style Pork Chops stuffed with roasted red peppers, prosciutto, and three cheeses: ricotta, Pecorino Romano, and smoked mozzarella! Inspired by a Stuffed Pork Chop I had at Cordivaris in Brigantine, NJ, while out on the town with friends, when I come home I had to play around with a recipe by making something like it at home. I wanted to keep the memory alive longer by remembering the great company, beautiful weather and delicious food and drink we had that evening.
Now of course their dish was AMAZING, with a large bone-in pork chop about 2+ inches thick! I decided to improvise with my 1″ boneless pork chops I had in my refrigerator. And when I listed my ingredients to get at the grocery store, I wanted to add a smoke taste to the dish so I bought smoked fresh mozzarella and remembered I had a jar of roasted peppers in my pantry. And then I thought I might as well go all the way and add prosciutto! Why not! I was already going over the top with three types of cheese!
THIS STUFFED PORK CHOP DISH IS WORTH A LITTLE EXTRA TIME
This dish isn’t all that difficult so don’t be intimidated to try it! Give yourself a good hour to an hour and fifteen minutes to prepare and cook! Grab a glass of wine and sip it while you prepare this dish! Put on some Italian music, like an opera sung by Luciano Pavarotti, or watch an episode of Stanley Tucci’s “Searching for Italy” on CNN. Get inspired! It will get you in the mood!
Grab four pork chops, and the cheeses and remaining ingredients, and stuff the pork chops with all the cooking strength you can muster! You will be surprised at how you can make this dish not only look gorgeous but taste soooo delicious!
Serve it up with some rice or pasta, and/or a vegetable like broccolini, green beans or zucchini! Garnish with some basil and you will impress not only yourself, but if serving family and friends, they’ll be super impressed, too!
Until next time,
Let’s get cookin’ together,
Madeline
Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Peppers, Prosciutto and Italian Cheeses
Equipment
- 1 9" x 13" aluminum pan or glass dish
- 1 Large Stove Top Sauté Pan
Ingredients
- 4 5-6 ounces pork chops (boneless) about 1" thick
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup Panko Italian Style bread crumbs You can substitute Italian Style regular bread crumbs
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- 4 ounces smoked fresh mozzarella slice in 4 even slices
- ¼ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
- 4 ounces roasted peppers You can get them in a jar
- 4 small slices of prosciutto cut in 3 - 4" pieces
- ¼ cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed) 1 lemon
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 bunch basil leaves (roughly chopped)
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 4 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° on bake setting.
- Slice each pork chop by cutting ALMOST in half lengthwise so you create a deep pocket. Do not cut all the way through.
- Mix bread crumbs, ricotta, grated Pecorino Romano and shredded mozzarella cheeses in a bowl. Add ½ of the chopped garlic, lemon juice, ⅓ cup chopped basil, and black pepper.
- Mix cheese ingredients until well combined.
- If peppers come in full length-size pieces, cut in half lengthwise so each slice of pepper will fit into the pocket of the pork chop.
- Lay each pepper slice into the pockets of each of the pork chops.
- Take 2 tbsps of cheese mixture and put in each of the pockets of the pork chop.
- Stuff in a slice of prosciutto then a slice of the smoked mozzarella cheese.
- Fold over the top of the pork chop so that you cover most of the stuffing.
- Heat butter, oil and remaining garlic in the sauté pan on medium.
- Brown each side of the pork chops for 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer to the dish/pan and place in oven for 15 - 20 minutes until cheese melts and the pork chops are heated through to medium well (no more than 145° F).
- Serve with rice or pasta, broccolini or green beans or zucchini if you'd like!
Notes
