Swiss chard is a beautiful leafy green, with thick leaves and edible stems that resemble celery. It’s great sautéed like in this recipe with pumpkin seeds and cranberries, if you enjoy pork then you will definitely like this departure from the sauté pan! Get the best pasture raised pork you can find, these thick cut chops came from our friends at Autumn’s Harvest Farm making this a simple and truly local dish! If you’re at a Farmers’ Market you can also try local cheese. This recipe calls for creamy fontina, but white cheddar also works. Feel free to change it up!
The other thing I like about this recipe, is there are a few options for cooking. I like to sear pork chops on high before transferring them to the oven. Searing gives them a nice golden color and helps seal in the juice. If you’d prefer to skip this step, just bake a little longer. Cut the chard and stems crosswise into one inch pieces.
We always use a salad spinner in the farm kitchen for washing greens of all types. Even if you don’t need to spin them dry, the salad spinner basket is perfect for lifting greens out of the water to drain. Let a little water cling to the greens, it helps the greens soften in the oven. Toss the greens with a tablespoon of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Heat a saute pan to high. Season each side of the pork chops with salt, pepper, and olive oil. When searing meat like this, to avoid constantly washing my hands, I usual season one side and place the seasoned side down in the skillet. Then season the other side while the meat is cooking. Cook the chops about 2 minutes per side until nice and golden.
Lay the pork chops on top of the greens in a baking pan, sprinkle the cheese around the chops just on the greens.
Baked Pork Chops with Swiss Chard
For 4 servings:
4 pork chops
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces
For 2 servings:
2 pork chops
1/2 bunch swiss chard, washed and cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces
reduce cheese by half (optional)
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
fresh-ground black pepper
4 pasture-raised pork chops, 1 inch thick cut.
1 ½ tablespoons fresh grated parmesan
½ cup grated fontina cheese
Heat the oven to 400F degrees and oil a baking dish. In a medium bowl, toss the Swiss chard with 1 tablespoon of the oil, half of the salt, and black pepper pepper. Put the chard in the baking dish.
Heat a sauté pan to high heat. Rub the pork chops with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the remaining salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Sear the pork chops about two minutes per side until golden.
Put the pork chops on top of the Swiss chard. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon oil over the chard, around the pork chops. Sprinkle the Parmesan and fontina over the chard, around but not on top of the chops. Bake until the chops are just done, about 10 – 12 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
