Good afternoon ladies and gents,
Today I have a new recipe I created for you.
This one is a no measurement sort of recipe, really you should just go with your common sense on exactly how much of each ingredient, but I will provide approximate measures and amounts wherever possible.
My meal today is Pork chops in a creamy cheese and mushroom pasta.
I will admit, this wasn’t what I had in mind when I first walked into the kitchen but when I found that all of those ingredients I did have in mind were missing from the cupboard I discovered not only that I really should fire that cupboard stocker (me) but also that I had to create something else quick, and with very little.
With a couple more resources I would have certainly put in mushrooms, as well as using the amazingly good “Shake O’Cini” dried wild porcini mushroom powder I did for this.
I used fresh pasta for this but you can certainly use dried, though use about 2 thirds of the amount of the fresh weight to get about the same amount.
All in all in was very tasty, it was creamy and cheesy, it had a mushroom flavour, and the pork went very well with it.
I will certainly get a few mushrooms and try this again, it would be fantastic with fresh or dried and reconstituted whole porcini.
Pepper’s Pork chops in a Creamy Cheese & Mushroom Pasta
Serves 2
Ingredients
250g fresh Lumaconi Pasta (200g dried)
2 pork chops
1 teaspoon oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
Milk as needed
Water as needed
Large handful of grated cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper
A few shakes of dried porcini powder
Method
Start by heating a large frying pan to a medium high heat with 1 teaspoon of oil.
In a separate large pot, add enough water to cook the pasta and put that on the heat to boil.
When the pan is hot enough, add the pork chops, add salt and pepper and brown them on all sides.
Set the chops aside on a plate.
Let the pan cool down off the heat and set to a medium heat. Leave the fat the pork left behind.
Add the butter to the pan and once melted, add the flour.
Mix the flour into the pork fat and butter until it makes a brown and moist flour which has absorbed all the fat.
Off the heat, add milk a small amount at a time, whisking thoroughly, until it comes together as a smooth, thin sauce.
Place back on the heat and add the porcini powder, salt & pepper to taste and the cheese.
Keep whisking to combine and add more milk as it thickens, to keep the consistency of a thick sauce.
When the water has boiled in the other pan, add in the pasta and cook as instructed on the pack (as a guide, 7 minutes for the fresh pasta I used).
Add the pork chops as well as any juice back in the pan and let them cook though, adding a little water as needed if the sauce is getting too thick.
Lastly, drain the pasta, reserving a small amount of the pasta water and add the pasta, using some of the pasta water if needed for consistency, tossing them in the sauce until covered, being gentle as fresh pasta will more likely break.
When at the required thickness, share the pasta between 2 shallow bowls and place the pork chop in the middle, making sure to spoon over plenty of sauce.
Enjoy!
