Pistachio-Crusted Pork Chops

Power to pistachios! They're good for combatting heart disease, diabetes, and aging. And more importantly, I recently discovered they're good on pork chops!

Grinding the pistachios, garlic, and lemon peel. 

 

Browning the chops in olive oil before throwing them in the oven.

I used butterflied boneless chops, mainly because I don't like paying for bones when I'm just frying or baking, rather than simmering/slow cooking.  

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios
• 1 clove garlic (I used 3 cuz I LOVE garlic)
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• Salt
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• Pepper
• Four 1-inch-thick pork chops (or two 1-inch butterflied chops)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Using a food processor, finely grind the nuts, garlic, lemon peel and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Transfer to a shallow bowl; whisk in the breadcrumbs.
2. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Dip each chop into the egg, then coat with the nut mixture; transfer to a baking sheet.
3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chops and cook until golden, about 2 minutes on each side; return to the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 140°, about 20 minutes.