Thick pork cutlets are hard to cook to an even succulence in a frying pan (skillet), but seared, finished off as described below, then transferred to the oven, they emerge tender, succulent and crusty-topped.
Try the pork for a midweek meal with a good mash and perhaps broccoli.
Ingredients
—2 Tbsp golden raisins 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp butter 4 thick pork cutlets about 190g (6-7 oz) each and 2.5cm (about 1”) thick Salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste ¼ cup dry red or white wine 1 Tbsp capers, drained, patted dry and chopped 1 Tbsp tomato concentrate 1 tsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard 6 large sage leaves 2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese 2 Tbsp panko breadcrumbs
Method
—1 Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Soak raisins in hot water to cover for 15 minutes. Drain.
2 Heat oil in a large frying pan (skillet) over medium heat, drop in the butter and add cutlets once butter is sizzling. Cook until golden then turn them over and cook briefly, just to seal. Transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish. Season cutlets with salt and pepper.
3 Mix wine, capers, tomato concentrate, mustard and drained raisins together and spoon over cutlets. Add sage leaves to dish.
Ready for the oven.
4 Sprinkle crumbs then parmesan over top of cutlets. Spoon juices from frying pan over crumb topping. Bake cutlets for 12-15 minutes in top third of oven until golden and barely cooked through (cutlets should still have a blush of pink and be juicy; they will finish cooking as you ready them for serving). Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
If cutlets are very thick, or uneven, beat lightly with a mallet, protecting the meat with a clean plastic bag.
Use tomato concentrate to give a boost of tomato flavour. 1-2 Tbsp is generally sufficient for most dishes to give a tomatoey flavour and tinge of red.
Pork Cutlets in the Oven
I came across your recipe for Baked Eggplant with Peppers and Mozzarella in Cuisine magazine and then made it-we like eggplant dishes.
I decided to make as shown even though it was just for the 2 of us. It was excellent and I will certainly do it again, but it quickly became obvious that it would not have come close to feeding 6. Indeed, we agreed that it would only just have fed 3 as a main and we are not big eaters.
I am going to do the pork cutlets this evening.
Hi Keith,
I’m glad you enjoyed it. It is not designed as a main course on its own, but to be served with other dishes. I did write ‘it makes a fabulous centerpiece for a vegetarian meal’, implying other dishes should be served with it, including a salad to balance the richness. But glad you loved it enough to devour it (I could duo the same too.).
Cheers