Mangalitsa Pork Chops

I saw these fancy Mangalitsa pork chops at Cookbook, a gourmet food store in Echo Park near where Mark and I live.  They were really expensive but I have been obsessed with only eating fancy meat lately so I went for it.  It was a little difficult to find a recipe, this breed of pig has much more marbling than traditional American pork,  I read that it should be cooked slower for longer.  Anyway this recipe turned out great.  You can find the original here. The meat was much more flavorful than the pork I am used to and the apple, onion, and sage was the perfect accompaniment.  The apple was especially delicious after roasting in pork fat.  There was some fat we trimmed off the edges of the chop after cooking that I put in the freezer, I'm dreaming of a future recipe where we render it and use it to flavor something...


1 Mangalitsa pork chop

1 small onion, diced

sage leaves

1 small apple peeled, cored, and sliced (I used fuji because I had it on hand)


1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
2. Wash and pat dry chop thoroughly with paper towel. Lightly salt and pepper and let sit for about 30 minutes.
3. Add a small amount of oil to a small, heavy oven-proof skillet. Over medium-high heat, sear chop for about 30 seconds on each side to brown, then remove from skillet.
4. Turn heat down to medium and add 1 small sliced onion with several sage leaves cut or torn into smaller pieces. Cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally until browned lightly and beginning to soften. Add 1 small apple, peeled, cored and sliced. Cook for a few minutes to warm apple, then remove pan from burner to cool several minutes.
Add chop to pan and settle into onions and apple. Cover, and place in oven for about 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees (the USDA’s benchmark for safety).
5. Remove skillet from oven, remove chop to a plate, and place skillet back on burner on medium-high heat for a few minutes until juices are reduced, then serve with chop.