Pork chops with sage and apple

Serves: 4
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 0 hr 50 mins

Ingredients

  • 600g small baby potatoes, scrubbed clean
  • 300g carrots, peeled and chopped chunky
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 2 tbsp honey 
  • 2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
  • 2 apples, cored and cut into 6 wedges
  • 4 thick pork chops
  • 8-10 sage leaves
  •  

1. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees celsius, or equivalent.

2. Parboil the potatoes and carrots in a pan of boiling water for about eight minutes. Drain them well then tip them into a large roasting tray that has been drizzled with a little olive oil.

3. Stir the olive oil, mustard and honey in a small bowl till smooth. Pour half the mixture over the potatoes and carrots. Season with salt and black pepper.

4. Place in the oven to roast for 15 minutes.

5. Meanwhile place a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat. Drizzle the chops with a little oil and season with salt. Fry for one or two minutes on each side to brown the fat. Set the meat aside and remove the tray from the oven.

6. Crush the potatoes slightly to flatten them. Add the apple and onion wedges to the tray among the vegetables, and scatter with a few sage leaves. Top with the pork chops then drizzle over the remaining honey and mustard mix.

7. Return the tray to the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes until the vegetables and apples are tender and the chops are cooked through. Serve right away.

Lilly Higgins

Lilly Higgins

Lilly Higgins, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a food writer