Pork Parmesan

I'm always thrilled when I can come up with a new delicious meal that doesn't take much work. And that takes advantage of things I have hanging around in the freezer and pantry. Last night was one of those serendipitous occasions. Grabbed a couple of boneless pork loin chops out of the freezer (I'm a sucker for sales and buy a lot and then package a dinner's worth in individual Ziplocs in the freezer. Makes figuring out what to cook a whole lot easier.) and wondered what I could do with them besides throw them on the grill.

Luck would have it that I had some pasta sauce and breadcrumbs in the pantry and a couple slices Mozzarella cheese in the fridge. So, here's what I came up with. Hope you'll try it too.

PORK PARMESAN
Makes 2 servings.

2 boneless pork loin chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs (store bought are just fine)
2 T olive oil
2 slices Mozarella cheese
2 cups of your favorite tomato or pasta sauce*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dip the chops in the beaten egg and dredge in breadcrumbs. (I like to press the breadcrumbs into chops a bit so there's plenty of coating to get crusty.) Heat the olive oil over medium heat in an ovenproof skillet and add chops. Brown on each side about one minute (they'll be nice and golden), then transfer skillet to oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove to stovetop.

Place one slice Mozzarella cheese on each pork chop and smother in tomato sauce. Return the skillet to the oven and bake an additional 10 minutes until tomato sauce is hot and bubbly.

It's great with a salad, maybe a side of pasta and garlic bread. And uncork your favorite Italian wine. We had it with a Nebbiolo (rustic Italian varietal) from a great California winery called Viansa. More on them later.

Enjoy!

* I took advantage of a surplus of five or six ripe tomatoes from the farmer's market to make my own sauce. Peeled and chopped the tomatoes. Sauteed some garlic and onion in a little olive oil. Added the tomatoes and let it all reduce and dissolve down to a splendid mess. Added some bottled Italian seasoning mix and....voila! Made a nice fresh addition to this recipe, but next time, I certainly wouldn't frown upon using Prego, Ragu, or {insert your favorite brand sauce here}.