maiale all'uso dei pastori v aka pork chops shepards style

i mentioned before i had a "cousins" dinner.. danny requested italian and my other cousin suzy mentioned she and her hubby loved pork chops and garlic mashed taters.. so on the hunt i went, i found this recipe from here.. it looked perfect.. i did over do it on the pork chops we had 12 people so i got 12 pork chops.. and we easily could have gotten away with 6.. so if making this use your best judgment, i got large thick pork chops.. thin pork chops would have been wonderful too.. i love taking thin pork chops seasoning with salt, pepper, drizzle of olive and italian seasoning.. searing in a hot iron skillet quickly {they don't take long since they are thin} and when eating them we pick them up with our fingers and just munch away... {this was the way my mom made them and my dad encouraged us to eat with our hands.. he he i loved it} but back to the pork chops at hand, these were really good.. i actually really like pork chops cooked any ole way i think..

maiale all'uso dei pastori v aka pork chops shepards style

prep time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 35-40 minutes
servings: 6 {i doubled the recipe for my dinner party}

ingredients:

6 bone in pork chops, about 1 inch thick, 6-8 oz. {mine were a little bigger than that}
salt and pepper
1/2 cup ap flour
extra virgin olive oil
4 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 provolone cheese slices
1 cup white wine
1/3 cup percorino, freshly grated

season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper.. put your flour in a paper bag or zip lock, put in a chop and shake shake shake until lightly coated.. remove chop from bag and shake the chop a little over the bag so any excess flour will fall back in.. place on a lined baking sheet or cutting board, repeat until all chops are done.. then take a heavy bottom oven proof skillet and heat 2-3 twirls around the pan of olive oil over medium heat..lay your chops in the skillet in a single layer..make sure your skillet is large enough to fit them all you may have to snuggle them in.. gently brown the pork on the first side, about 4 minutes {if thinner chops less time}, turn chop over, and brown second side.. another 4 minutes.. remove chops to a plate and keep warm.. scatter the onions and garlic in the skillet, stir them around pan and season with salt and pepper and cover.. cook onions slowly, stirring occasionally and make sure to scrape the pan bottom to get all those good and yummy browned bits..  but if your finishing the dish right away, set a rack in the middle oven and heat it to 400 degrees {f}.. after the onions are cooked, about 15 minutes and they are tender uncover them and push them to side and lay your pork chops back in, then lay a slice of provolone over each chop then a layer of onions on top of each chop {or vice versa}{if your cooking this for a dinner party you can stop here and cover and keep in the fridge until guests arrive then finish the skillet cooking and baking, which is what i did}..  raise the heat on your stove, when the meat is sizzling pour the wine {and any juice juice from the plate the chops were resting on} in the space between the chops don't pour directly onto chops.. swirl pan around so the wine and plate juices flow all through the chops.. bring it to a boil.. sprinkle with percorino on each chop and then carefully move the skillet from the stove to the oven.. bake the chops for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melty and bubbly and getting crusty.. carefully remove skillet from oven.. let chops rest for a few minutes {3-4}.. to serve, lift each chop out with a spatula, keeping the cheese and toppings in tact.. set on a dinner plate then spoon some skillet juices and any left over onions over the top.. {i served them over roasted garlic olive oil mashed potatoes}.. i followed this recipe here but added roasted garlic from my easy garlic confit and used the oil as well.. super garlicky but really good..

 

enjoy and get cook'n!!!