Skillet Pork Chops with Cabbage, Pear and Walnuts is a simple one pot wonder packed full of Autumnal flavours and textures.
Skillet Pork Chops with Cabbage, Pear, and Walnuts.
These Skillet Pork Chops with Cabbage, Pear and Walnuts recipe just scream autumn in these parts.
Pork chop recipes are not an unusual occurrence here on Krumpli. They are a welcome and ever-present part of what we eat on a day to day basis.
Whether they are dressed up with blingy sides like these pork chops with Jerusalem artichoke puree and blackberries, or simply cooked in the Instant Pot like this pork chop with red cabbage recipe, they are always my food mojo!
Pork has such an affinity with two types of ingredients, fruit, and nuts. Both are on display here in the form of walnuts and pears and they both compliment the juicy skillet pork chops.
The most common fruit associated with Pork is apple as in these sausage rolls, but apples are not the only fruit!
Pear and Walnuts.
Both pears and walnuts are pretty much ubiquitous in my corner of the world at this time of year. Despite not having either a walnut tree or a pear tree in our garden I have not paid a single penny for either of these ingredients since we moved here.
Confessing to a Hungarian that you are fond of an ingredient is a dangerous thing to do. Generosity runs deep in these parts!
Too deep on occasions and it is very easy to be oversupplied with stuff you kinda like… And all because you once mentioned something in a casual conversation.
The pears and walnuts have already started to arrive and I have no idea who the first lot came from.
We went out shopping a couple of days ago and just found a box of them on our doorstep when we got home. This will likely not be the last time this will happen this Autumn!
I am sure many people those two ingredients scream a cake or a dessert of some sort. I saw these ingredients and immediately drooled over a big fat pork chop.
The Best Way To Buy Pork Chops.
Food like this is great. It is a simple matter of just putting together a load of ingredients in a pan and letting the magic just happen.
All the while you just kick back and wait.
However, you do need the right pork chop. Don’t accept some skinny piece of pig from a supermarket shelf for this dish.
It will be dry and overcooked by the time it has any colour or the other ingredients cook.
The first thing to do is go to your butcher and not the supermarket.
Then get a pork chop at least 2.5cm thick, nudging towards 3-3.5cm.
With the bone in that should weigh in at around 300g and should allow you to roast it nicely in the oven and stay lovely and moist. Perfect for these skillet pork chops!
Skillet Pork Chop with Cabbage, Pear and Walnuts
Skillet Pork Chop with Cabbage, Pear and Walnuts is a simple one pot wonder packed full of Autumnal flavours and textures.
Ingredients
- 2 Thick Cut Pork Chops, 2-3cm thick bone in skin off
- 1/2 Head Small Cabbage
- 1 Pear, Pealed and cored and cut in half
- 50 g Shelled Walnuts
- Cooking Oil, Neutral
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 Tbsp Whole Grain Mustard
- 1 Tsp Brown Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
- We only want the heart of the cabbage for this recipe, so remove the outer leaves and then cut the cabbage in half through the stalk. Then cut that half into quarters and set aside.
- Dice half of the pear into 1cm dice, take the other half cut it in half again and then slice into 5mm slices.
- Now heat your skillet over a high heat.
- Rub the pork chops with oil and season with salt and pepper and sear on both sides until you have a nice colour, 1-2 minutes per side, then remove from the pan and set aside.
- Sear the cabbage quarters in the pan as you did with the pork and when seared pour in 250ml boiling water and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and cover with a lid or tin foil whilst you finish preparing the pork.
- Back to the pork, spread 1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard one side of each pork chop and then fan out the pear slices on the top and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
- Now return to the pan with the cabbage which has hopefully been on a rapid boil for a couple of minutes.
- Pour off the water and add the pork chops to the pan and squeeze in the cabbage around the sides, sprinkle over the remaining diced pear and walnuts cover with tin foil, place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
- Cooking times will depend on the thickness of your chop mine were a full 3cm thick so after 20 minutes my internal temperature was 60°C this is the perfect time to remove the foil lid and continue cooking for a further 4-5 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 65°C.
- If you like you pork really well done increase the temperatures by 10°C and then allow to rest before serving.
Notes
You can replace the pear with apple if you wish.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 536Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 132mgSodium: 429mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 9gSugar: 19gProtein: 45g
Anna
Tuesday 24th of July 2018
What a delish recipe. I love to cook with cabbage and combining it with pear and walnut is genius!
Brian Jones
Sunday 29th of July 2018
It works so well, hanks Anna.
Zaarah
Tuesday 24th of July 2018
This looks stunning and I love using pears in warm dishes. I’m definitely pinning this to try later. Thank you for the inspiration.
Brian Jones
Sunday 29th of July 2018
Thanks Zaarah
Beth
Tuesday 24th of July 2018
What a fantastic combination! I love the sweetness of the pears and the crunch of the walnuts! That is great you have such giving neighbors! I do have issues cooking pork sometimes in the US. They cut it too thin, so it is hard to not over ccok, even if you are super careful!
Brian Jones
Sunday 29th of July 2018
Yeah I live in a fun place :) Thin cut pork infuriates me, I genuinely don't get why people want to eat that dry stuff!
Julie @ Running in a Skirt
Monday 23rd of July 2018
What a delish combination! Love the cabbage, pear, and walnuts together! So tasty.
Brian Jones
Tuesday 24th of July 2018
Thanks Julie
Katie Crenshaw | A Fork's Tale
Monday 23rd of July 2018
This looks like the perfect comfort meal. I love that you cook it in one skillet. The pear and walnut combination sounds incredible.
Brian Jones
Tuesday 24th of July 2018
It is really rather good and so simple!