PESTO STUFFED PORK CHOPS

PESTO STUFFED PORK CHOPS

4 pork chops
5 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp Basil (I use the kind in the can because it last longer)
1 clove Garlic (chopped)
2 Tablespoon Pecorno Romano cheese (heaping)
3 Tablespoons of Feta cheese
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

1 Teaspoon of pepper
1/2 Pepper flakes
2 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Teaspoon dried Oregano

1/4 Teaspoon ground Thyme
1 Clove Garlic (chopped)

Preheat oven to 375F

Mix together oil, basil, garlic, cheese, pepper and salt until smooth (Some may want to use a food processor or blender) The first time I tried this recipe I added two slices of herb bread to the mixture, which caused them to be too dry. Leave the bread on the side.

 

 

Cut pork while half frozen (So much easier this way). Split mixture into 4 even portion and stuff into pork chops. The place in a shallow baking pan.

 

Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl and use as a rub on both sides of the pork chops.

 

 

Bake chops until the centers are hot. This took about 40 minutes. Remove from over and brush with 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and then return to oven for an additional 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

 

 

 

*I served mine with broccoli which was a nice complimenting flavor.

 

Fab reviews at allrecipes !

Margherita Pizza (with a twist)

We have tomatoes coming out of our ears. Tomatoes of every kind. We have Roma, early girls, cherry tomatoes, black cherry, yellow cherry, beef steak. Don't even get me started on the zucchini. Did I mention neither my husband nor I like zucchini. We learned this after we let them grow to be the size of baseball bats because neither of us wanted to pick them, let alone eat them. Hahah!

This is a fabulous recipe for getting rid tomatoes if you have a plentiful stash.

INGREDIENTS:
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour divided
2 tsp sea salt
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (all kinds makes for lots of color)
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup light packed basil (or you can find the jar kind that keeps longer, but cut amount to 1/4 ;)
2/3 pound of fresh mozzarella (I like the kind that's packed with oil, see pic)
1 tsp dried oregano

1. In a medium bowl whisk 1 cup of room temperature water w/ yeast and let stand 15 minutes.

2. Use dough hooks and mix 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp of salt, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and yeast mixture. Then add remaining 1/2 cup of flour and mix about 30 minutes until smooth and elastic. I personally through all ingredients in the bread mixture and let it do it's magic :)

3. Meanwhile, make tomato sauce. In a medium sauce pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat, add garlic and simmer for a few seconds. Stir in chopped tomatoes and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool.

 

4. Blend remaining olive oil and basil leaves. Stir 1 tablespoon of basil oil mixture into tomato sauce w/ a pinch of salt.

5. Divide dough in four and roll into 4 tight balls. Place on a flour sheet and allow to rise for 1 hour. If you would like to make one large pizza like mine just make one ball.

 

5. Roll our 4 individual pizzas with dough. Bake dough 3-6 minutes @ 400F on a hot stone (stoneware from Pampered Chef in my fav). Remove from oven add tomato sauce, sprinkle basil sauce everywhere and all mozzarella cheese and return to oven for 2-5 minutes or until cheese has melted. Take out sprinkle with salt and enjoy.
* One pizza will need a beginning cook time of about 10 or so and 15 minutes after toppings have been applied.

I even had leftover sauce which I will be using to make Chicken Parmesan tonight :)