I’ve been making this dish for years. It’s a perfect meal for Saturday lunch when you want to get on with the weekend and not spend the day in the kitchen.
I regularly make this on Saturdays once the girls’ ballet lessons are out of the way (why, oh why did I go for dance lessons on a Saturday morning?) and it’s simply a case of throwing everything in a roasting tray, tossing in olive oil and bunging in the oven. Easy as. It doesn’t really warrant a recipe, but I thought I’d write it down anyway. It is actually based loosely on an early Jamie Oliver recipe, from his Naked Chef days, but even easier – if that’s possible.
So, simple and tasty and the kind of food I have to stop my children picking up and eating with their fingers, until I give in and join them.
Tray-baked pork chops with rosemary and pears
Serves 2 adults and 2 children
3 or 4 pork chops – I used to share one between my two kids, but now they’re getting bigger they demand one each
several sprigs of fresh rosemary
6 large carrots, scrubbed and chopped into large chunks or quartered lengthways
3 pears, cored and quartered
4 large potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
6 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
Preheat the oven to 220°C / gas mark 7.
Arrange the pork chops, rosemary sprigs, carrots, pears, potatoes and garlic in a large roasting tray.
Season well with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to make sure all the ingredients are lightly covered.
Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until everything is nicely browned and turning the chops and vegetables once or twice during the cooking time. The pears will be squishy and the garlic oozy, while the pork chops will be sticky and the carrots will have that lovely caramelised thing going on. The kitchen will smell incredible.
Serve with a big dollop of mayonnaise, homemade preferably, or the best shop-bought you can afford.
As rosemary is used in abundance in this dish, I’m entering it into Cooking with Herbs hosted by Karen at Lavender & Lovage where the themed herb this month is rosemary.
Bangers & Mash 