Recipe of the Week: Pork Chops with Rhubarb

The tart, fresh flavour of rhubarb is a surprisingly good partner for pork. In this quick and simple dish, the chops are cooked on the griddle and the rhubarb stewed with butter and sugar to take the edge off its sharpness. It makes an interesting alternative to apple sauce, our usual choice with pork chops. Serve with the first early new potatoes or try my speedy baked potatoes – halve the potatoes lengthways, cut a wide, 5mm-deep lattice, smear with oil and add a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt. Place on a foil-lined tray and bake, without waiting for the oven to come up to temperature, at 220°C, Gas Mark 7. They will be ready in 20–30 minutes.

SERVES 2 | PREP 20 MINUTES | COOK 25 MINUTES, PLUS RESTING

2 pork loin chops
200g rhubarb
25g butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon groundnut
or sunflower oil
Maldon sea salt

Prepare the chops by cutting down the rind in 3 or 4 places right to the meat, so that when the chops cook they don’t buckle. Season both sides with sea salt, rubbing salt into the rind. Set aside.

Cut the rhubarb stalks into pieces approximately 3cm long. Rinse and shake dry. Place in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons cold water, bring to the boil, add the butter and sugar and cook, covered, with the heat reduced to very low, for about 10 minutes until tender.

To cook the chops, smear both sides with the oil. Heat a griddle pan for several minutes until very hot. Lay out the chops, press down with a spatula and cook thus for 2 minutes. Turn and repeat. Reduce the heat and cook for a further 3–5 minutes on each side until cooked through. Transfer to warmed plates and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving surrounded by the rhubarb sauce.

Extracted from Dinner Tonight by Lindsey Bareham. Available Here.