Pork Chops with White Beans, Fennel, and Onions

on

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the most flavorful, and that’s certainly the case with those in It’s Not Complicated: Simple Recipes for Every Day, Katie Lee Biegel’s latest cookbook.

While we could have prepared her Pork Chops with White Beans, Fennel, and Onions as a quick weeknight dinner, I’m glad we enjoyed it on a Friday evening to mark the start of our weekend. It is an easy dish to make, but definitely looks and tastes like a special dinner. In fact, it was a meal I decided to serve on the “fancy family china.”

If you want to be transported to Italy, at least through your taste buds, definitely try this recipe. As Biegel writes, “The white beans, fennel, and onions definitely say ‘Tuscany.'”

Ingredients: 

  • 4 bone-in pork chops, 1 inch thick
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved for garnish
  • 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • One 15 1/2-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar

Directions:

  1. Place the pork chops one at a time between two sheets of parchment paper. Use a meat mallet to pound the pork chops to about 1/2 inch thick. Generously season each side of the pork chops with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook for about 3 minutes per side; remove and set aside.
  3. Add the onion and fennel to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Cook until translucent and tender, 7 to 8 minutes.
  4. Add the garlic and beans and cook for 1 minute. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in the wine and brown sugar, then return the chops to the skillet. Reduce the temperature to low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Serve the chops with the onion, fennel, and beans spooned on top and garnished with fennel fronds.

Biegel’s pork chop recipe wasn’t the only one we tried from her latest book. If you’re looking for tasty burgers and ribs for your next barbecue, try her Animal-Style Burgers, based on In-N-Out’s burgers with caramelized onions and special sauce, and her husband Ryan’s hoisin style ribs. Both were prepared by my husband, who made dinner both nights before I realized the recipes came from Biegel’s cookbook. (And both dinners were devoured before I could take photographs!)

Other recipes in It’s Not Complicated include those for cocktails, like Iced Peach Bourbon Lemonade Tea and Mango Mexican Mule; appetizers such as Crab Toast and Pumpkin Hummus; salads and soups including Grilled Sweet Potato and Arugula Salad and Creamy Parmesan Cauliflower Soup; entrees such as Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pasta and Apricot Glazed Ham; sides like Peach, Bourbon, and Bacon Baked Beans and Crunchy Ranch Corn on the Cob; desserts including No-Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake and Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding; and breakfasts like Breakfast Nachos and Basil Zucchini Frittata.

Is your mouth watering yet? Then reserve a copy of It’s Not Complicated by calling Whitehall Public Library at 412-882-6622, or through the catalog, here.