Instant Pot Pork Chops

23 January 2022

I had a couple of pork chops on hand, so I wanted to make them in the instant pot with a red sauce.

Most recipes I found called for thick chops. Mine were 1/2 inch thick, so I had to adjust the time for cooking. I checked on a couple of facebook pages and got some suggestions. 

Here’s my recipe:  

 

2 1/2” bone in pork chops

Olive oil for the bottom of the pot

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/3rd cup chopped onions (next time I’ll keep them in larger pieces)

A couple of small red peppers, thick slice

Dash of Italian seasoning

Dash of onion powder

Smoked Paprika, just a little. Next time I’ll add more.

1 can of diced tomatoes and its juices

About 4 T. Rao’s tomato sauce

About 1/2 cup of white wine

Fresh chopped flat leaf parsley

10-12 Italian green olives

1 small can of mushrooms, drained (didn’t have fresh on hand)

Salt and Pepper

 

Season the pork chops with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and onion powder.

 

With the Sauté setting, add some olive oil and added the two chops to brown. Add the garlic, onions, peppers and salt/pepper (I placed them around the pork chops.  Turn the pork chops to the other side to brown; about 3-4 minutes on each side.

 

Turn off the IP.  Top the pork chops with the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, parsley, olives and mushrooms.

 

Pressure cook for 5 minutes followed by a Natural Release. 

The Natural Release took about 18 minutes. Next time I won’t let the natural release go beyond 13-14 minutes. The chops came out not quite tender, but not tough at all. Or I’ll buy thicker chops.

 

I had some leftover grits to serve as a side.

 

Italian Meatballs & Red Sauce

Here’s my recipe, which I adapted from my mother-in-law.

Meatball Ingredients: 

1 lb ground beef 3 Italian sausages, sweet and hot

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

1/3 to 1/2 cup breadcrumbs 

2 eggs 

1/4th of an onion, chopped 

1/3 cup or so of Pecorino Romano cheese, grated 

Fresh parsley, chopped 

Salt and Pepper to season 

Red Sauce (see below) 

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl, except for the red sauce. 

Take a small amount, about a tablespoon and make into a patty. Fry in a pan till cook and taste to make sure it’s properly seasoned. Adjust the meatball mixture if needed.

Form into large meatballs (or small when preparing for a large dinner group). 

Place the meatballs onto baking pans that have been lightly sprayed with pam. Brown in the oven (pre-heated to 400 degrees) for about 10-12 minutes. This allows the meatballs to obtain that nice brown crispy texture and to remove excess fat. 

Drain on paper towels, then add the meatballs to the sauce.  Cook for 2-3 hours on low heat, stirring every so often.

Red Sauce: 

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped 

2 T. olive oil 

Dash hot pepper flakes 

2 12-oz cans of crushed tomatoes 

1/4 c. dry red wine - use any good wine. 

Fresh basil 

In a large pot, sauté the garlic in the oil but don't let it burn. 

Add the pepper flakes and then the crushed tomatoes. 

Simmer on low for 2-3 hours, adding the basil the last 15 minutes of cooking. 

The longer this sauce cooks, the better! 

You can use this sauce when making lasagna, manicotti, eggplant parmesan, and for topping pizza. 

If I'm making this for a dinner party, I'll transfer to a large crockpot and keep on low heat before serving.