PORK CHOPS with APPLE STUFFING
3-4 thick boneless pork chops (at least 1” thick)
1 med-lg. sweet apple, small chopped (I leave the peel on)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon………………….................1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 TB extra-virgin olive oil………................1/4 tsp. pepper
About 1/4 cup sweet white or yellow onion, finely diced
1 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped....................1 tsp. dried sage leaves, crushed
2 TB butter, cut into cubes………................1 cup stuffing mix
Extra-virgin olive oil ……………...............…1/2 cup apple or orange juice
extra Kosher salt & pepper
***
Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking pan (square or rectangle) with foil (for easier clean up) and give the foil a spritz of non-stick spray. Set aside.
Cut a deep pocket horizontally into the sides of the pork chops (but don’t cut them all the way in half). Set them aside.
Mix all the rest of the ingredients (except the butter) together in a bowl (your hands work best). Put as much of the stuffing as you can into the pockets in the pork chops, and then put them into the prepared pan (standing up, so that the stuffing doesn’t fall out ~ I prop them up against the side of the pan). Put the rest of the stuffing around them. Put the cubes of butter over the exposed stuffing in the pan. ** Drizzle a little olive oil over the chops (and over the exposed stuffing); then just a little salt & pepper over the chops.
Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pork chops reaches 145. **
Servings: I will eat 1 of these (maybe 1/2, if they’re really big), but sometimes my husband will eat 2 (if they’re smaller) ~ so you can decide whether 1 or 2 pork chops will be the right amount for each member of your family, plus the extra stuffing in the pan (and whatever else you’re serving as a side dish).