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#GrillPorkLikeASteak #CollectiveBias
You guys. We had a near catastrophe here this week. Ryan (my hubby) went to turn the grill on for the grilled pork chops I was preparing and… it didn’t work. All the usual suspects were ruled out (empty gas tank, bad ignitor battery, etc.) so leftovers for dinner it was. Wah-wah. Later Ryan posted on our neighborhood website to see if anyone knew of a repairman, and in the most neighborly gesture of neighborliness (at least that I’ve ever seen! And yes I made up a new word), a guy a few streets over brought over a couple of parts and a few minutes later we had a working grill again. It was a valve or something or other blah, blah, blah… but the bottom line is crisis averted!
Like I’ve told you guys before, we live off of the grill in the summer. It’s so quick and easy and best of all I’m not stuck in the kitchen cooking! 😉 I’m so grateful to our neighborly neighbor… last night we were able to grill the Arugula Pesto Rubbed Pork Chops I’d been dreaming about and that I now want to share with you!
Arugula Pesto Rubbed Grilled Pork Chops
Serves 3 (with leftovers of Arugula Pesto Rub!)
Ingredients
1 package Smithfield All Natural Bone-in Pork Chops
Olive oil
2 cups Arugula, loosely packed
½ cup Romano cheese, finely shredded
¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 garlic clove, peeled or 1 tablespoon minced garlic
Pinch of kosher salt
Directions
1. Add arugula, cheese, pine nuts, garlic and salt to food processor.
2. Pulse to a crumb-like texture.
3. Spray or drizzle pork chops with olive oil. Press and massage Arugula Pesto rub onto both sides.
4. Heat grill to about 375º. Sear each side of the pork chops for about 2 minutes over direct heat. Move chops to indirect heat. If you love your pork medium rare, you should cook it to an internal temperature of 145 degrees (followed by a three-minute rest). If you like your chops a little more done, you can cook them to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Smithfield All Natural Fresh Pork is perfect for grilling because it’s so tender and juicy (and contains no artificial ingredients, steroids or hormones).
Enjoy!
We had our grilled pork chops alongside of grilled lemon pepper asparagus and it was delish! The garlic and peppery arugula are such a great complement to the bite from the romano cheese and nutty, creamy pine nuts. It was so easy and extremely flavorful… elegant enough for a dinner party with the convenience of a speedy weeknight meal.
You can find Smithfield All Natural Fresh Pork products at Walmart. Be sure to visit SmithfieldThrowdown.com to enter the Hog Wild Throwdown Sweepstakes for a chance to win some amazing prizes, including a Ford F150!
What is your favorite grilled pork chops recipe? I’d love for you to leave it in the comments below so I can try it out! I will definitely be trying this one↓! (Insert heart eyes)
Melissa @ Made by Melissa Lee says
Wow, these look great! I love regular pesto, but that much basil can be expensive! This looks like a great alternative. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Simone says
All I have to say is you had me at pork chop!!
Lydia says
Haha they’re one of my fav foods too Simone! 🙂
David @ Spiced says
Oh, these pork chops sound amazing, Lydia! We have arugula going crazy in our yard right now (seriously…it’s taking over…), and I’m thinking I need to whip up some arugula pesto + chops for dinner soon. Thanks for sharing…and glad you got that grill back in shape again! #client
Lydia says
Thanks so much David! I’m so jealous… some kind of critters ate all of mine! And my kale… and my tomatoes.
Brittany Fry says
mmmmm Lydia these look so good! I am going to have to surprise Anthony with these for dinner one night. I say surprise because he is the chef in our house and I must say he would be very impressed!
Lydia says
Lucky you! Ryan isn’t so “handy” in the kitchen haha! Thank you for the compliment! Let me know how he likes them! 🙂