Pork Chops & Risotto

Super easy recipe, and this was only my second time making risotto. 

I ordered pork loin chops from FreshDirect (my new best friend), 1″ thick.  I have so little experience cooking pork because 1- I don’t eat pork en generale (exceptions include bacon), and 2- I’m wary cooking something I have to be very sure is cooked to “done” but if I overcook it, it tastes like crap.  (I like dark meat chicken for a variety of reasons, one being it’s nearly impossible to overcook…)  Anyhow, I’ve gotten so bored of making chicken or beef, that I decided, what the heck, let’s make some pork chops. 

After much agonizing, because I was positive I wanted to make risotto, I came up with… a non-recipe.  I sprinkled each side with salt and pepper, threw it into a hot skillet with olive oil, and cooked it on each side for about 4-5 minutes.  I got a nice crust on it, and let it sit for a few minutes while I finished up the risotto.

Risotto is deceptively easy.  It looks and sounds hard to make, but it’s really easy once you’ve done it… once.  It does take patience and a bit of time (20-30 minutes actual cooking time), but it is really easy and delicious!  I used a simple, standard recipe, you can make changes to it as you like. 

• 2 cups Arborio rice (for two people, you will have leftovers, but I used the leftovers for my next recipe- risotto cakes!)
• medium [yellow] onion, chopped
• butter
• chicken broth, heated through and kept at a low simmer
• grated Parmesan cheese
• salt
• pepper

Melt the butter over low heat; add onion.  You want to cook the onion just until it’s soft, translucent, sweet- don’t brown them!  After the onion is cooked, add the Arborio and stir constantly, it’ll be a little glutinous but keep stirring and make sure all the buttery onion goodness gets integrated.  You’re ready for the next step when the grains basically look a little clear around the edges with a white dot in the center (about 3 minutes).  Make sure you don’t brown the rice!!!  It won’t taste good if it browns, so keep the heat low. 

Now, scoop a ladle or two full of broth and add to the risotto, stirring the whole while.  Make sure it’s evenly being absorbed into the rice (don’t just add the scoop, stir once and then stand back!).  Once the broth has been absorbed, add another ladle or two, and stir some more.  Continue doing this until the rice, when you taste it, has a slight bite (it shouldn’t be mushy, but it shouldn’t be hard, either).  This should take about 20 minutes. 

Add the grated Parmesan, then season the rice with salt & pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!  (I cut a bit of scallion to scatter on top because I love the freshness, I just mixed it in right before plating.) 

Serving suggestion: since I’d made the porkchops pretty plain, my boyfriend ate each bite with a bite of risotto, and loved it.  I chose to add some cherry butter (from Harry & David’s), which went deliciously well with the tender pork.  Yummy!