To cook or not to cook? That is the question many of us ask ourselves several times a week, if not daily. In reality, between the plethora of restaurants, delivery services and prepared foods available in supermarkets and specialty stores, there is no need to cook anymore. Yet for reasons as diverse as economy and guilt, people continue to prepare meals for themselves and their families.
Another strong motivation to cook, of course, is the pleasure we get from it. Yet all too often the pleasure of cooking is offset, if not erased, by the need or desire to spend the same amount of time doing something else. Time has become a vital factor in the equation of preparing and consuming food. I cook, I confess, with a timer but rarely against one. Therefore I welcome the opportunity to write once a month about a meal that requires no more than 30 minutes of preparation and cooking. In the interests of practicality, I will use prepared and semiprepared foods and readily available condiments. And I will indicate with an asterisk those items that I recommend be kept on hand in the refrigerator or pantry.
For reasons that probably can be traced back to my mother’s apron strings and the nightly family dinners I was a part of during my youth, I am incapable of thinking of a single dish constituting a meal. On occasion, I will skip dessert, but I always have a first course before the main event, even if it is no more than a simple lettuce salad garnished with some raw vegetables. Often, this course will be improvised from what’s in the refrigerator. But when the fridge is virtally empty, the meal takes shape at the supermarket.
In general, consider cooking time when you buy your groceries. For instance, fresh pasta cooks in less than half the time as dried. Pork cooks much more quickly than it once did, and boneless cuts cook faster than those with the bone in. To make cooking time seem to go by faster, distract yourself with such non-cooking steps as setting the table, portioning out salad, activating the microwave, pouring the milk or opening a bottle of wine.
Today’s menu is for a dinner for two adults or an adult and two children. It begins with antipasto salad, purchased at the deli department. The main course is breaded pork chops in the Italian fashion with an uncooked fresh tomato sauce along with pasta and spinach. (If really pressed for time, buy a prepared tomato salsa or uncooked tomato topping.) Dessert, purchased at the bakery department, is amaretto cookies served with a scoop of fruit sorbet.
The Game plan
Part 1: Do steps 1 and 2 of the pork-chops recipe. Bring pasta water to a boil, covered. Remove yellow portion of rind of half the lemon with a zester, then juice the lemon.
Part 2: Do step 3 of pork-chops recipe. Place frozen spinach in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cook in microwave oven until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander.
Pause here to sip some wine and eat antipasto or, if both adults are in the kitchen, simply nibble it as you cook.
Part 3: Heat skillet for pork chops. Add salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until tender. When done, drain, return to pan and stir in olive oil and lemon peel, plus salt and pepper to taste. Place pork chops in hot pan and cook, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare sauce recipe. Dice an extra tablespoon of onion and place in another skillet with 2 tablespoons oil. Cook until onion softens, then add spinach, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Stir.
To serve: Place a chop on each of 2 warmed plates. Add pasta and spinach, then spoon 2 heaping tablespoons of sauce atop each chop. Refill wine glasses and enjoy.
PORK CHOPS WITH FRESH TOMATO SAUCE
2 or 3 servings
2 boned and butterflied pork chops, 6 to 8 ounces each, about 3/4 inch thick
1/4 cup flour
Salt, pepper
1 egg
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs+
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese+
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika+
2 tablespoons olive oil+
+Items to keep on hand for quick cooking
1. Place flour in a shallow dish and season generously with salt and pepper. Place egg in a second dish, add 1 tablespoon water and beat with a fork. Place bread crumbs, parmesan and paprika in a third dish and mix well.
2. Cover pork chops with plastic wrap and pound gently until less than 1/2 inch thick. (If you wish, ask the butcher to do this when purchasing the meat.)
3. Place a pork chop into the first bowl and dust thoroughly with flour. Transfer it to the dish with the egg and turn to coat all surfaces. Move chop to the third dish and coat well with the bread-crumbs mixture. Set aside. Repeat with the second chop. Let chops rest at least 7 to 10 minutes before cooking.
4. Heat a skillet, preferably of cast iron. Add oil, then add pork chops. Cook over medium-high heat for 4 minutes. Turn and cook an additional 4 minutes. (If the meal is being prepared for three, cut the second chop in half.) Top each chop with 2 heaping tablespoons of fresh tomato sauce. Optional accompaniments: pasta such as orzo or elbow macaroni and a green vegetable such as spinach.
FRESH TOMATO SAUCE
About 3/4 cup
1 small tomato, seeded and diced, to yield about 1/2 cup
1/2 roasted red pepper+, seeded and diced, to yield about 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons diced onion, sweet onion such as Vidalia preferred
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh herb+ such as rosemary
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil+
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice+ or wine vinegar+
+ Items to keep on hand for quick cooking.
1. Dice vegetables by hand or in a food processor and place in a small bowl. Add the minced herb and a liberal amount of pepper and salt.
2. Stir in olive oil and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Do not store this sauce. It soon becomes watery and “tired.”
Tip: To make your own bread crumbs, remove crusts from slices of day-old bread and toast lightly. Transfer to a food processor and reduce to crumbs. Store, tightly covered, in a glass jar.
