Pork Chops with Roasted Pears, Sage and Shallots
Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! It’s a long weekend from coast to coast and I hope you are enjoying the time with family and friends.
This post was written and scheduled last week, so that I could spend my holiday baking pumpkin pies, roasting the turkey and dishing up dinner around my table. We’re hosting a wonderful big gang for a feast today and I am definitely in my happy place- the kitchen!
If you like, join me in the Simple Bites kitchen today (and any day!)by using Instagram Stories. First follow @aimeebourque on your Instagram app, and then tap on my profile picture to play the stories. Make sure you have the most recent update of the app.
Okay, now on to today’s recipe and a recipe round-up from our #EatSeasonal blogging group.
I’ve temporarily set aside apples in my kitchen and have been giving pears the spotlight instead. It’s a good decision, because dessert recipes such as Extra Crispy Pear Lavender Crisp and Spice Pear Gingerbread are essential for fall.
Pears are also delicious in savoury dishes, especially paired with garden herbs and young alliums (onions, garlic, etc). In today’s recipe, pears, fresh sage and braised shallots join forces to liven up a rather unexciting pan of pork chops.
Thanks to warm fall temperatures and no sign of frost yet, I still have a thriving herb plot with an abundance of green and purple sage. I paired sage with grilled chicken earlier in the summer, but I am finding that it is also excellent with bold flavoured fall dishes such as this roast pork.
Green Anjou pears are ripe and plentiful in Quebec right now. Most pears hold up very well to cooking (I also like to roast them for breakfast) as long as you prepare them when they are ‘firm-ripe’. Now I’m not sure if this is an official culinary term, but it happens when they are partially ripe, but before they are really soft. You get my drift!
Pork Chops with Roasted Pears, Sage and Shallots
Ingredients
- 4 1-inch-thick bone-in pork chops about 2 1/2 lbs
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt divided
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 firm-ripe pears washed, quartered and cored
- 5 medium shallots peeled and quartered
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped sage loosely packed
- 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet over medium high heat. Preheat oven to 400F. Have all ingredients prepped and ready to go.
- Pat pork chops dry with a paper town and season on both sides with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. Heat olive oil in the pan and then carefully lower the pork chops into the pan with a pair of tongs.
- Sear pork for about 4 minutes on one side, allowing a dark crust to form. Flip the chop and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange the quartered pears around the pork chops and send the pan to the oven. Roast for about 8 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chop registers 130F.
- While the chops roast, reheat the cast iron skillet over medium high heat and tip in the shallots. Pour in the apple cider vinegar, apple juice and ginger. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove pork chops and pears from the oven. With tongs, transfer the pears to the pan with the shallots to continue cooking them. Add any juices from the pork to the sauce. Set aside the pork to rest.
- Increase the heat to high under the sauce with pears and shallots. Sprinkle in the sage, pour in the maple syrup and add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt.. Boil until the mixture reduces and thickens.
- Lower heat and return the pork chops to the pan, as well as any accumulated juices. Dot with butter and spoon the sauce over the pork as the butter melts. The reheated pork chops need to only reach about 145F. Don't overcook them!
- Plate the pork chop over rice or mashed potatoes and arrange the roasted pears and braised shallots around the pork. Spoon the sauce over the top and serve at once.
Notes
Nutrition
Eat Seasonal
From soup to salmon, cake to chili, here’s what else our #EatSeasonal group of bloggers have cooked up for October. These original recipe are straight up comfort food, so enjoy!
Roasted Root Vegetable Soup by Joy Food Sunshine
Turkey Pumpkin Pot Pie by Kitchen Confidante
Roasted Chicken with Figs and Butternut Squash by Vintage Mixer
Lentil Chile Rellenos with Creamy Walnut Sauce Letty’s Kitchen
Chorizo, Black Bean, and Kabocha Squash Chili by Flavor the Moments
Spiced Zucchini Pear Cake with Brown Butter Glaze by Completely Delicious
Orange Spiced Salmon with Spaghetti Squash by Foodie Crush
Marinated Zucchini with Red Peppers and Garlic Project Domestication
Roasted Red Cabbage Wedges with Za’atar by Floating Kitchen
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, friend! I’ve been enjoying seeing all your IG stories lately. Looks like you’re preparing a wonderful meal! Love this beautiful Fall dish. Hooray for giving pears some attention!
Thank you so much! That means a lot.
Happy Thanksgiving to you friend!! My favorite holiday all year. And this recipes looks awesome. I can’t wait for pears to be ripe here!!
I hope you try it! And yes, Thanksgiving is wonderful.
This meal is what pork chops were made for! I love how rustic and comforting this is, and I’m adding it to my meal plan soon!
Oh fantastic, I hope you enjoy the dish, Marcie.
Now the vegetarian me is trying to finger out how this wonderful flavor combo of pear, ginger and apple cider vinegar will be with tempeh! Ha. Really. I’ll let you know!
Seriously, I’d love to know! Thanks, Letty.
Happy Thanksgiving! The pears are just starting to come into our markets and I love this take on a beautiful classic pork chop. The fall flavors in this dish are wonderful!
I really appreciate that, Liren. Thanks for the feedback.
Happy Happy Thanksgiving to you! 🙂 My husband has been requesting some pork chop recipes lately…I will have to give this a whirl!
Thanks, Laura!! I hope you enjoy the dish.
Aimee–thanks for such a delicious recipe! My husband and I just moved to Luanda, Angola about two weeks ago. When I saw this recipe on your blog, I knew I wanted to make it. I couldn’t find all the ingredients here. I have not seen apple juice or apple cider vinegar or shallots, so I subbed with some pear nectar and red wine vinegar and yellow onions with a bit of garlic. The finished dish did not look much like yours, but it was very delicious none-the-less and there were no left-overs. I plan to make this for my family when we are back in the US and I can get all the original ingredients called for. I have enjoyed your blog for several years now and have loved watching your children grow. Thanks again!
Great feedback, Melisa. Thanks for sharing. I’m glad you enjoyed the Angola version of the dish. 🙂
What a delicious dinner! This was thoroughly enjoyed by all – even my 3 kids!
Excellent!! Thank you for returning and sharing your feedback.
I see how that works well for you. 🙂
What can be used in place of the syrup?