By Florence Fabricant
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(271)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The muscular sear and smoky, crisp burnish of grilled food has immense appeal. But achieving it requires time and attention to hot coals. The grill master may scoff, but I have increasingly come to rely on my oven, sealing the deal with a slow bake after a quick sizzle atop the grill or stove. That’s how I made these pork chops, with their lusty Neapolitan topping to accompany a sturdy aglianico. The slow cooking gently brings the meat to tenderness, guarding its juices. It also grants the cook nearly an hour to assemble the rest of the dinner, and what does the grill master know about that? (You might consider moving the meat away from the fire and covering the grill, but the temperature will not be as consistent and will require monitoring.) Penne or other modest macaroni dressed with just olive oil and chile flakes is excellent alongside, to share the sauce with the meat.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 3cloves garlic, divided
- ½teaspoon dried oregano
- ½teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
- ¼teaspoon salt
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 412-ounce rib pork chops, preferably heritage, about 1¼-inch thick
- 1small red onion, finely chopped
- 8ounces ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
- 4anchovy fillets in oil, drained and mashed
- 2tablespoons pitted oil-cured black olives, chopped
- ½tablespoon capers in vinegar, drained
- 1½tablespoons golden raisins
- ½cup dry red wine
- 1teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, minced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
710 calories; 39 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 18 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 73 grams protein; 517 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Preparation
Step
1
Mash 1 clove garlic with dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon chile flakes and salt to a paste in a mortar. Stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil and the vinegar. Spread this mixture on both sides of the pork. Set aside. Heat grill. Heat oven to 225 degrees.
Step
2
Heat remaining oil in a small skillet, add onion and sauté until translucent. Mince remaining garlic and stir in. Add tomatoes, anchovies, remaining chile flakes, olives, capers and raisins. Stir in wine and cook on low until mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
Step
3
Grill pork close to source of heat, turning once, until nicely browned but not cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. (You can also cook the chops in a grill pan or skillet over high heat for about 2 minutes per side). Transfer pork to a baking dish, slather with tomato mixture and place in oven for 45 minutes for medium, longer for more well done. Arrange pork on a serving platter, spoon any pan juices over it, scatter with oregano and serve.
Ratings
4
out of 5
271
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Cooking Notes
SonomaSMB
I seared the chops on a grill pan, and they did NOT look anemic. The photo is terrible, but mine looked great.
Finished beautifully in the oven.
Sauce was wonderfully flavorful. Another winner from Florence.
Marqua1
You should make twice as much sauce as is called for here. Really.
Jjwhite
We cooked this for dinner, and the only thing I changed was the oven temp. 225 seemed too low so I raised it to 350. The pork was perfectly cooked and my wife and I loved it.
Ali Litts
Absolutely fabulous. After following the recipe closely, the chops were moist and flavorful and the sauce delicious. I seared the chops in a skillet at a high temperature before putting them in the oven under a loose foil tent. Used two pork chops with the full recipe amount of the sauce pouring some on penne pasta.
mcmargo
Happy to stumble onto this recipe after searching for "Greek Pork Chops." Wanted to use up the Kalamata olives I had on hand. So mixed those with black olives. Used olive oil from Kalamata olives in the marinade. Our kitchen smelled like an Italian/Greek restaurant. Made egg noodles to sop up the liquid heaven made from baking everything. Pork chops weren't as thick, so I covered them with foil & baked at 275 for 30 minutes and that worked great. Excellent flavors and easy!
andrew
So frustrating when they say degrees and don’t specify Celsius or Fahrenheit. Almost burnt the crap out of these chops. There are 3 countries on the planet that use the Imperial measurement system guys.
Catherine in London ON.
I made this and served it with egg noodles as another commenter suggested. I made the full recipe for two chops and it was delicious. I used 2 Roma tomatoes for the 8 ounces and added more Kalimata olives than called for. I’m not sure the chops needed 45 mins in the oven. Next time I’ll check after 30. It’s so hard to find tasty pork recipes.
Annette
This is super flavorful. I followed the recipe other than anchovy paste substitute for fillets. Seared in cast iron pan, then to the oven. I will make this for entertaining next time. It's that good!
Karen
Thin chops, bake ten minutes.Thick chops, bake twenty minutes.Use RoTel with green chilies ok.
Lizzette
Made this tonight for Sunday Supper and it was a big hit with my husband. The sauce is incredibly complimentary to the chops. I used Kalamata olives and omitted the anchovies to get the same briny flavor. I’m not a fan of raisins so I used one medjool date instead and diced it really fine. I served the pork chops and sauce over egg noodles that had been boiled in beef stock. AMAZING!! Loved the method and will add this to my monthly rotation of suppers. Thank you for the recipe.
Kathy Espinoza-Howard
I made this recipe with 2 pork chops and baked the chops at 330 degrees. They were delicious. My husband loved the recipe.
jane
Have made this several times, always with good results. Last night, I put in some chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil - a very good addition.
Michael
The sauce sounds more like Caponata minus the eggplant.
Ryan
It sounds just like puttanesaca
Cherryl Friedman
This looks delicious! My husband won't eat anchovies. Any suggestions?
jane
Only 1 tbl olive oil in paste - rest in sauce!!!
Marqua1
You should make twice as much sauce as is called for here. Really.
FrankW`
I enjoyed this recipe and made it exactly as written but it’s lots of work. I will reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes the next time because I found the pork chops to be just on the edge of over done. The sauce was flavorful but I agree with the comments that refer to Mr. Bittman’s recipe for Puttanesca sauce, as it is simpler to make and the flavor is subtly more robust and explosive in your mouth. I also use the extra sauce with the orecchiette pasta I made. 350 covered just a disaster!
Bello
Made this last night. Seared the chops on the grill in sub zero weather. Very flavorful. I also wondered if the baking dish should be covered. I cooked it uncovered and seemed to work out fine.
Hannah
Perfect. Made this with kalamata olives and Trader Joe's lemon pepper pappardelle. I did make twice the amount of sauce to put on everything.
Ali Litts
Absolutely fabulous. After following the recipe closely, the chops were moist and flavorful and the sauce delicious. I seared the chops in a skillet at a high temperature before putting them in the oven under a loose foil tent. Used two pork chops with the full recipe amount of the sauce pouring some on penne pasta.
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