I call this a “Spanish-style” dish because it was something I came up with myself (I am not Spanish) and a quick Google search to see if anyone else has tried it revealed that it has much in common with similar dishes described as being “Spanish”. I don’t feel comfortable adding my recipes to another nation’s cuisine!
Like many of my kitchen experiments, my inspiration for this dish was sheer laziness – there were a few pork chops and vegetables in the house and I didn’t want to go to the shops. It has since been developed to the stage where I don’t need to experiment anymore with the ingredients or proportions.
Ingredients
For the meat:
6 Pork Chops
2 tablespoons of plain flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cracked pepper
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of olive oil
For the sauce:
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 clove of garlic, diced or crushed
1 onion (Spanish onions are best, but not critical), diced
1 small red capsicum (known to much of the rest of the world as bell peppers), cut into strips
2 zucchinis, sliced
1 lemon
400g tin of crushed tomatoes (or better yet, use fresh tomatoes – to prepare, see here)
Handful of pitted black olives (Kalamatas are my favourites) – I usually have 4-5 olives for each pork chop
What to do
- Mix the plain flour, salt, pepper and paprika together
- Coat the pork chops in the dry mixture. There is no need to be gentle, rub the dry mixture into each chop – then lightly shake off excess coating
- Heat the oil in a pan, once hot, add the pork chops
- Once the pork chops have turned a golden brown and cooked inside, remove them from the pan and give the pan a quick clean
- Heat the oil in the pan and add garlic and onion
- Once garlic and onion have browned, cook the capsicum and zucchini, continually stirring
- When the capsicum and zucchini are cooked, but still firm (after about 5 minutes on medium heat), tip in the tomatoes
- Let the mixture bubble, then lower heat to a simmer – squeeze about half a lemon in, then add the pork chops and the olives to the pan.
- Sample the sauce in the pan, and add more lemon or salt and pepper to taste.
- After a few minutes (long enough to get the pork chops hot again), it is ready to serve – there is no need to drown the meat with the sauce on the plate!
I usually serve this with steamed beans and roasted potatoes, which are equally easy to prepare – and which I will add to this site soon. A quick survey online appears to show that most people serve it with rice. My own preference is not to, only because it requires you to use 3 utensils (a fork, spoon and knife) and I only have 2 hands! It’s silly, I know.
