Family recipe from Sharkey. With fresh broccoli that has been steam-cooked and a Caesar salad, this is excellent.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chilled basil pesto
- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
- 4 bone-in pork loin chops, 1 1/4-inch thick
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground thyme
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Mix feta cheese, basil pesto, and pine nuts in a bowl. Use the tip of a sharp boning or paring knife to cut a 3-inch slit in the side of each pork chop, 2 inches deep and 1/4-inch away from the bone, to make a pocket for stuffing. Stuff pork chops with pesto filling and secure with toothpicks.
- Mix black pepper, oregano, garlic, red pepper flakes, and thyme in a small bowl; rub both sides of each chop with the spice mix. Place chops into a shallow baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven until chops are browned and stuffing is hot, about 40 minutes. An instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the center of the stuffing should read 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Brush chops with balsamic vinegar and bake until vinegar forms a glaze, another 5 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 335 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 94 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 29 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 208 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I did enjoy the taste of this recipe-however, it is a bit on the heavier and indulgent side for those who are health-conscious. I also was surprised that I did notice and enjoy the addition of the pine nuts, even though pesto traditionally includes pine nuts in its ingredients also. Was not redundant and would include the nuts again.
Surprisingly easy and super tasty!!! I used almonds instead of pine nuts and it turned out just as good as I expected.
Amazing! Instead of pine nuts I add about 3 Tbs of bread crumbs. I also reduced the amount of red pepper flakes. DELICIOUS!!!
I did not stuff the pork chops but just put the pesto and cheese mixture on top.
I used boneless pork chops – they cook faster than the 40 minutes for this recipe, but still came out tasty. Had it on top of sautéed summer vegetables and it was very pleasant.
This was good, thanks for sharing
Used boneless chops that I had on hand.
Yummy!
Oh boy, this is a wonderful recipe!! I did learn something from another reviewer, but I’ll get to that in a moment. I used my homemade pesto sauce, which is heavy on garlic so I did omit the garlic called for in the recipe. Another reviewer mentioned that straight balsamic won’t form a proper glaze, and I did notice that; I made a balsamic reduction after the fact and will use that in future. This recipe is perfect and delicious, please try it!
It has potential. Cooking it for forty minutes is too long. The pork dried out. It would be better to begin monitoring the internal temp of the pork after 30 minutes.
This was delicious, but I admit that I did make some changes! The pesto stuffing was perfect as is and was just the right amount to fill two 3/4” bone in pork chops. For the rub, I omitted the hot pepper flakes all together as well as the thyme. I also used two cloves of garlic. After 20 minutes at 350, I brushed with a balsamic glaze and returned to the oven for about 8 more minutes. Sooo good! For the glaze, use 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and 1/8 cup light brown sugar. In a small sauce pan let simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.
I made this just as the recipe called for. I wish I had left out the crushed red pepper. It was very tasty, but I spent a miserable night with acid reflux. Lol.
Delicious and easy Very flavorful and no salt Next time I will double the stuffing and maybe the seasoning too- but my pork chops are very thick. My husband and dad both loved them
pretty good, cooking time was off….I kinda hammered them so would need to adjust that next time.
These were excellent! The feta/basil stuffing went perfect with the spice rub. I found the amount of red pepper flakes was spot on, just enough to give it a nice little kick. I used boneless because my grocer didn’t have bone-in thick cut chops. I should have reduced the time down by 5 minutes so they were a little bit tough but still tasty.
Increased the amount of filling. Soooo good!
Mine came out too dry. Should have read the tip and covered with foil. They were good. I’d try again with the added step.
This is very tasty & I will be making it again, also for special occasions. I added a small amount of frozen spinach to the pesto stuffing. The herb rub is delicious. I make my own pesto with home grown fresh basil.
Made it as stated except for pine nuts as I didn’t have any. I doubled the amount of stuffing as after mixing the described amount it didn’t look like enough to stuff 4 boneless pork chops. They turned out really, really good, but the meat was a little over-done. Next time I’ll cut the cooking time back by 10 or 15 minutes.
Excellent and so easy! Used boneless thick cut and came out perfect
I’ve made these twice. Pretty good. Not my most absolute favorite thing I’ve cooked here, but yummy.