The past few days have been hot and humid. It is too oppressive to turn on the oven and the sudden, thunderous, downpour (providing no relief by the way) makes grilling difficult. Under these circumstances, I try to make quick, skillet dinners. I also recently bought a jar of harissa paste, so I decided to make the best of the situation and make this dish. It was a little experimental but turned out delicious. If you are not a fan of pork or have dietary restrictions, the sauce will work really well with chicken, shrimp, or mixed vegetables.
Ingredients:
3, center-cut, boneless pork chops
1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper, coriander, and smoked paprika
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of tomato paste
3 tsp of harissa paste (not sauce)
1 tsp of chicken broth concentrate + 1 cup of water OR 1 cup of chicken broth
1/2 tsp of dried parsley
2 Tbsp of olive oil
Additional salt and pepper to taste.
Method:
Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a skillet. While the oil warms up, mix flour with flour, salt, pepper, coriander, and smoked paprika in a bowl.
Dredge, pork chops in the flour-spice mixture, and add to the hot oil.
Fry the pork chops, about 2-3 minutes per side, till folder brown. Set aside.
Heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil in the same pan. Coat the sliced onions in the remaining flour mixture and add to the pan. Sautee on medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes till they soften.
Once the onions start to soften, add the garlic, tomato paste and harissa paste. Continue to saute for another 3-5 minutes.
Add chicken stock concentrate and water, dried parsley, and reduce the temperature to medium-low. Simmer the sauce for 3-5 minutes.
Return the pork chops to the pan. Continue to simmer till the sauce thickens. Taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper as needed. If the sauce taste too tart, you can add a pinch of sugar to cut through the acid. This will depend on the harissa paste and tomato paste brand.
Plate the pork chops with healthy dollops of the harissa sauce.
