Pork Chops Stuffed with Feta and Spinach...CL 4/07

[Hammster]

This gets 2 thumbs up. It is pretty quick to make. Requires a couple pans, so a bit of cleanup, but nothing major. Good flavor combos. DW is not a huge fan of cooked spinach, but there is enough other flavors that she liked this just fine. I made a couple of tweaks. I used fresh spinach since I didn't have any frozen. I also baked them in the oven, after searing in my iron skillet, instead of broiling them. Served them with diced hash browns and a green salad.

Pork Chops Stuffed with Feta and Spinach

Lemon juice and rind add a citrusy tang to the Greek-inspired filling. Total time: 42 minutes.

Cooking spray
4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, diced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry (I used fresh, coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese (I used low fat because I couldn't find nonfat block style. So nutrition info will be different)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Preheat broiler.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 2 garlic cloves; sauté 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, and spinach; sauté until moisture evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and rind.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper over pork. Arrange pork on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Combine remaining 2 garlic cloves, juice, mustard, and oregano in a bowl; stir well. Brush half of mustard mixture over pork. Broil 6 minutes; turn pork. Brush remaining mixture over pork; broil 2 minutes or until done.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 232(33% from fat); FAT 8.6g (sat 3.4g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 32.1g; CHOLESTEROL 73mg; CALCIUM 186mg; SODIUM 640mg; FIBER 2.8g; IRON 2.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 7.2g

[luv2cook]

If you're cooking the filling first and then adding to chops, why not use the same pan???

[TKay]

These sound right up my ally. I've recently converted dh to a spinach eater, so this would be another great way to keep it in our diets. I LOVE spinach. I'm glad to hear even your non-spinach-eater liked this one!
Pork chops...spinach...feta...how could it miss? Thanks for the review.

[SheRa]

thanks for the review! i'm not a huge fan of cooked spinach either, but i can handle it in small amounts. this one caught my eye in the magazine though, so it's good to know that it has potential!

[lindrusso]

Thanks for the review - this one is on my list. I never make stuffed anything (seems kind of fussy), but have always been intrigued and they always look soooo yummy - so maybe some day I'll actually try one! :)

[Hammster]

These sound right up my ally. I've recently converted dh to a spinach eater, so this would be another great way to keep it in our diets. I LOVE spinach. I'm glad to hear even your non-spinach-eater liked this one!
Pork chops...spinach...feta...how could it miss? Thanks for the review.


Hi TKay, actually she loves raw spinach. Just doesn't care for cooked. So it was good to have a recipe where she liked it. Yay for me (and her). :D :D


If you're cooking the filling first and then adding to chops, why not use the same pan???
luv2cook, I don't understand this question. I think it would be difficult to use the pan that the filling is cooked in and then use it under a broiler. Most pans don't do well under a broiler and it's best to use a foil lined broiler rack as opposed to a pan. Also, I don't like to risk putting non-stick pans in the oven even if I'm going to bake. I suppose I could have cooked the filling in my iron skillet and then put the filling in a bowl and then washed the iron skillet and then used it again. But then I would have dirtied another bowl instead. There was leftover filling so something extra would have been dirtied during the recipe making process. (I just ate the extra filling from the pan while the chops finished in the oven. :D)

[luv2cook]

well, I was just reading the directions. It said to cook filling in pan. Since it goes into the chops, my thought was to just put them right back in the same pan -- that was obviously assuming if *your* pans were suitable for the broiler/oven.

I am going to make these 2nite and I plan on using the same pan. I will just put the porkies on a plate that I put in the DW and then load them right back in and broil. I wasn't planning on washing out my pan - I use a spatula and that usually does a good job of getting everything out!

[Hammster]

I am going to make these 2nite and I plan on using the same pan. I will just put the porkies on a plate that I put in the DW and then load them right back in and broil. I wasn't planning on washing out my pan - I use a spatula and that usually does a good job of getting everything out!
What kind of pan are you using? About the only one I'd want to use in the broiler would be my iron skillet.

[LakeMartinGal]

Hammster, I love it when you do my work for me! This was on the to-try pile, and now I know I'll try it, and we'll both love it! Thanks! :D :D

[Hammster]

Hammster, I love it when you do my work for me! This was on the to-try pile, and now I know I'll try it, and we'll both love it! Thanks! :D :D


Glad to be of service. LOL.

[luv2cook]

All-Clad and I'm not using nonstick...it's safe for up to 450 (nonstick) but I usually don't do that...

ok. I made these. they were okay. i wished i would have made more sauce to put over them. Everything came together pretty fast-- that happens when you're juggling the phone and cooking!
I served w/mashed tators and a salad...