Grilled pork chop with creamy Dijon and parmesan lentils

I know that pork chops get a bad rap for being dry because we’ve been taught that you need to cook pork well done. If you choose high welfare, good quality pork you needn’t cook it to death. I give lots of instructions and tips to cook it just right so that it will remain juicy and ever so slightly blushing pink. A single pork chops is less worrisome than cooking a thick double chop so go for that if you don’t have an internal temperature probe. Always try and buy the best quality meat you can find/afford.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the pork:
500g rindless, double pork chop (about 5cm thick) or 2 individual pork chops
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. brown sugar
Black pepper

For the lentils:
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped (alternatively, you can swap for sage)
¼ cup white wine
1 Tbls. dijon mustard
1 cup pure cream or ½ cup crème fraiche or sour cream
1 Tbls. salted capers, rinsed
1 (400g) tin lentils, drained and rinsed
¼ cup grated parmiggiano reggiano
A small handful parsley leaves, finely chopped

Method: 

1.        Begin by mixing up the salt, black pepper, paprika and brown sugar and seasoning the pork chops with this mixture and rubbing that into the meat on both sides (avoid seasoning the fat cap if you can).  Allow it to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes but preferably a bit longer to come to room temperature before cooking. If the fat cap on your pork is quite thick, score it a little using a small pairing knife but do not cut into the meat.

2.        Preheat a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan over low/medium heat. Place the pork chop fat cap side down first to allow some of that fat to render and cook the chop in. You can hold it with a pair of tongs if it wants to fall over. Maintain the heat in your pan on the lower side so it doesn’t burn before cooking through. Remember we’ve added a bit of sugar to the pork to aid in caramelization but if you heat is on high, it will burn. Cook it for a total of about 15-20 minutes, flipping every couple of minutes and basting with some of the rendered fat towards the end. The final internal temperature at the center should be around 58C. If you are cooking two individual chops, you don’t have to worry so much, just cook them about 4 minutes per side. In either case, remove the pork from the pan and allow it to rest while you make the lentils.

3.        Pour out and discard most of the fat in the pan leaving about 1 Tbls. of rendered fat. Add in the garlic and chopped rosemary and allow that to sizzle for about a minute before deglazing with the white wine. Allow that to reduce to almost dry before adding in the Dijon, capers and cream. Simmer until the cream is thick (if using pure cream it will need to reduce down a bit more than crème fraiche). Add in the lentils and let everything simmer together for 2-3 minutes. The cream sauce should we coating the lentils. Because there are a quite a few salty elements used here, I wait to taste and adjust seasoning until the end.

4.        Finally, add in the parmesan and parsley and taste for seasoning and adjust.

5.        Slice the pork chop and serve with a good spoonful of the creamy lentils.