Pork Chops With Cherry & Red Wine Sauce

By Giada de Laurentis

Ingredients

Chops and Cherries
Chops & Cherries!

  • 2 thick bone-in pork loin chops
  • 3 Tbs olive oil
  • 1.5 Tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 Shallot
  • 1 cup halved, frozen cherries slightly thawed
  • 1 cup dry, fruity wine, like Pinot Noir
  • 1 Tbs Dijon mustard

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove chops from fridge ½ hour before cooking.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbs of EVOO and heat for another minute. Dry the pork well with paper towels and season with 1 Tsp of salt. Place the chops in the pan and cook without moving them for 4 minutes, or until they are deep golden brown on the bottom. Flip the chops and cook for an additional 4 minutes to brown the second side. Transfer the chops to a rimmed baking sheet and cook in the oven for 5 minutes, or until 140º in the thickest part. Allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

While the chops are in the oven, put the shallot and the remaining ½ Tsp salt in the pan that the pork was seared in. Cook over medium-high heat for 1 minute, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the cherries and the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits. Whisk in the mustard. Stir in the remaining 1 Tbs EVOO and increase the heat to bring the sauce to a boil. Boil for 5 to 10 minutes to emulsify and reduce it by a third. Spoon the sauce over the pork and serve.