Breaded Stuffed Pork - I Mean Veal - Chops

Let's just get it out in the open from the beginning. One of the specialties of Valle d'Aosta is Breaded Stuffed Veal Chops. And I am making it with pork instead.  I know, I know. Some people are going to frown upon me not using the authentic ingredients and will think that I should stick to the exact recipes if I want this project to have any credit.  In response, I say too bad.  I'm not a huge fan of eating veal, even though it really is delicious.  Though I may cave and do one or two meals with veal during this project, I decided not to used it in a recipe like this one where another meat could be substituted easily without altering the dish too much. 

So, if you want to, use veal in this recipe.  If you don't like to eat veal, the pork was wonderful. The cheese really keeps the chops moist.  To kick it up another notch, you could also put slices of prosciutto in the pork chops along with the cheese. You can serve these with any sides you want. I went with some simple roasted potatoes and steamed vegetables. 

Breaded Stuffed Pork Chops

Adapted from Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking by Micol Negrin

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 pork chops

1/4 pound fontina cheese, cut into 4 slices

salt

pepper

1/2 cup flour

1 egg, beaten

1 cup breadcrumbs

olive oil

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut a horizontal slit in the pork chops without going all the way through so that you create a pocket in the chops.  Put one slice of cheese in the pocket of each pork chop.  Use a meat mallet to pound the chop gently, sealing the openings.
3. Salt and pepper each pork chop.  Coat each chop with flour.  Then, dip in the egg.  Finally, coat in breadcrumbs.
4. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil. Cook pork chops over medium high heat until browned on each side. 
5. Place pork chops on a cookie sheet.  Finish cooking in the oven for 8-12 minutes, or until no longer pink inside. 

Ryan's rating of Breaded Stuffed Pork Chops - 4.5.  And my ratings keep going up!

Comments

[Jeanne]

Maybe I'll totally make traditionalists cry and use chicken since I don't eat mammals. So there!

[Sue]

You could also put a piece of really thin fontina on a think slice of chicken breast and roll it up before breading it so that you would have an Italian version of chicken cordon bleu!

[Momma C]

I finally got to a store that carries Fontina cheese and made this last night with the prosciutto. Yum. Charlie really enjoyed it also. I definately would use the prosciutto all the time.
Thanks, Suz.