Pork Chops in Cherry-Pepper Sauce

Name: Pork Chops in Cherry-Pepper Sauce
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: american
Ingredients: 1 (16-ounce) jar pickled hot cherry peppers; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced; 1 cup dry white wine; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 4 bone-in pork chops, cut about 1-inch thick (approximately 10 ounces each); 1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed; 2 tablespoons cold salted butter; 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

By Sam Sifton

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4(1,200)
Comments: Read comments

You can use this sauce — spicy and fragrant and slightly syrupy, what the Italians call agrodolce — on pork chops as I call for here, or on veal chops, on steaks, on chicken. I bet it’d be good on grilled seitan or drizzled over tofu. The recipe is reminiscent of the cooking at red-sauce emporia like Bamonte’s in Brooklyn, Rao’s in Manhattan, Dominick’s in the Bronx and, I hope, Carbone in Greenwich Village, where I first learned how to put it together at the elbow of the chef Mario Carbone. Serve with spaghetti dressed in butter and Parmesan, with garlic bread, with a spoon so you can slurp what’s left on the plate. “It’s a flavor that’s purely Italian-American,” Carbone told me. “You won’t find it in Italy, no way.”

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

1(16-ounce) jar pickled hot cherry peppers
3tablespoons olive oil
3garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1cup dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4bone-in pork chops, cut about 1-inch thick (approximately 10 ounces each)
1tablespoon neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed
2tablespoons cold salted butter
2tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Make the sauce: Drain the cherry peppers, reserving 1 cup brine, then stem, halve, core and seed them. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, and swirl the olive oil into it. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic, and sauté, stirring frequently, until it begins to color, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the peppers, the reserved brine and the white wine, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the liquid has reduced by slightly more than half, 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat. (The sauce can be made a few hours ahead of time.)
Step 2
When you’re ready to cook the meat, season it aggressively with salt and pepper. Place a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, and swirl the neutral oil into it. When the oil begins to shimmer, place the meat in the pan, working in batches if needed, and sear until the meat has browned, formed something of a crust and cooked through to medium-rare, 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Transfer the chops to a warmed platter.
Step 3
Add the sauce to the large, heavy-bottomed skillet in which you seared the meat, and warm over medium-low heat. Whisk the butter into the sauce until evenly distributed and the sauce develops a velvety sheen. Spoon sauce over chops, and garnish with parsley.

Ratings

4 out of 5

1,200 user ratings

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Comments

Morrie Brown5 years ago

I make this with the whole pepper. I pierce them before adding. I also use a half a cup of chicken or other stock. Leaving the seeds in makes it hotter, and keeping the peppers whole effectively makes them a spicy side dish. I have also made this with by adding a whole onion sliced very thin and sauteed with the peppers until slightly caramelized. Sometimes I will add a head of roasted garlic to the stock, spin it around in the Cuisinart and then add it for a richer umami flavor

Barbara5 years ago

Prepare the pickled cherry peppers with garlic, butter, a bit of pepper juice and a bit of chicken stock or white wine, and toss in a pound of cleaned, shelled shrimp. Delicious over pasta.

Dan G.5 years ago

Delicious dish!!! Sam misspoke when he called this agrodolce. Agrodolce means sweet and sour and usually implies vinegar and sugar reduced to a syrupy consistency. No sugar in this dish. Also, this dish is akin to Scarpariello sauce, which is I recommend you try.

walternorris2 months ago

Made this with venison & was a massive hit with our family.

cindyct4 months ago

This is not something I eat but I made it for my husband who orders Chicken Scarparollla whenever it's on the menu. I love him so I made this. He loved it. A winner. It's not for everyone but if you like it, this is a fantastic rendition.

Jed1 year ago

Okay, folks: this is absolutely fantastic, and absolutely idiot-proof easy. I used *sliced* cherry peppers and saved even more time. Served with linguine aglio e olio, with a heavy shower of grated parmesan, and steamed broccoli. Perfection on a plate. Just fantastic, and restaurant-quality in no time at all.

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