Pork Chops with Paprika and Fennel Seeds combine favorite flavors of Spain and Italy. Recipe below.
My friend Stan went to Spain last year. After he got back, the first thing I asked him about was the food, of course. He said that most restaurants offered pork, pork and more pork. Stan is Jewish, so he would notice this sort of thing.
To be fair, he did find other things to eat in Spain [and as he admitted to me later, did finally succumb to the delights of pig meat in his travels]. But Spanish cuisine does embrace meat in general and pork in particular, in all its forms, both fresh and cured. The small, dense Spanish chorizo sausages, a completely different, um, animal from the Mexican variety, are wonderfully intense. I know I’ll feature them in at least one upcoming post.
And to flavor all this meaty goodness? Paprika, of course. Paprika [or pimentón, as it’s known in Spain] is one of the essential ingredients of Spanish cuisine. It is made from ground aromatic sweet red peppers and ranges in flavor from mild to hot and in color from bright orange-red to blood red. Originally from the Americas, most commercial paprika now comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary.
The Italians are no slouches in the consumption of pork either. And for them, one spice of choice for combining with it is fennel seeds. If you doubt this for a moment, just wait ’til the fennel seeds hit the hot skillet—you will smell the essence of Italian pork sausage. Fennel seeds have been compared to anise, but while they do have a big flavor, it’s not as pronounced in its licorice flavor as anise.
In this recipe, paprika and fennel come together to deliver a nice, subtle complexity in a quick, easy-to-make main course.
Pork Chops with Paprika and Fennel Seeds
Serves 4
4 center-cut bone-in pork chops
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons + a couple of pinches paprika, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil [+ additional, if needed]
1 leek, white and light green parts [you can also use a medium onion]
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Cooked white rice
Prepare leek. Cut off roots, a bit of the white base and the green tops. Slice in half lengthwise [rinsing under running water if it seems gritty inside] and slice crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.
Pat chops dry with paper towel. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of paprika on both sides. According to some Nigella Lawson measuring spoons I happened on over the weekend, a pinch is 1/8 teaspoon. Another mystery solved.
Heat a heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil—when it begins to shimmer, add chops. Sauté on one side until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn chops, reduce heat to medium and cook about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate.
Add leeks and fennel seeds to same skillet [drizzling in a little extra oil, if needed] and sauté until leeks are tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in remaining paprika; stir 15 seconds. Add wine, broth and lemon juice and boil until sauce reduces slightly, scraping up browned bits. Return chops [and any accumulated juices] to pan to warm through and finish cooking, just a couple of minutes.
Transfer chops to individual plates, along with servings of rice. Spoon sauce over pork chops and rice.
Kitchen Notes
Flavoring the Chops. The original recipe didn’t bring the meat together with the sauce [or any of the paprika] until you were spooning the finished sauce over the chops on the dinner plates. I like to bring flavors together earlier in the game. My recipe introduces a little extra paprika right away, then lets the chops finish in the sauce for more flavor.
On the topic of chops and flavor, do use bone-in chops. Sure, you can make this with boneless chops [and I was a fan of the America’s cut boneless chops for a while], but the bone imparts a satisfying meaty depth.
And yes, that’s zucchini on the side. Again. We like zucchini.
Also this week in Blue Kitchen
Rescuing an old friend and getting a slice of culinary life in the bargain at WTF? Random food for thought.
Trippy hippie music from the town that brought you Andy Warhol at What’s on the kitchen boombox?
Did you use sweet paprika or smoked paprika, which is that most wonderful of Spanish spices? Even the sweet smoked paprika is quite strong and can easily overpower a dish — but a little bit, in the right places, is just heavenly.
Actually, Lydia, I used sweet Hungarian paprika. It’s what I had on hand. Besides, Hungarian paprika is generally regarded as the best—although perhaps not by cooks in Spain. But now you’ve got me intrigued. I like this dish enough that I may have to try it with some Spanish smoked paprika.
Those pork chops would be a hit among the men in my family, Terry – I bet they’d get into a fight for seconds. 🙂
The only recipe I’ve seen (and made) that calls for fennel seeds is Brazilian corn cake. I never would have thought they can be used in savory dishes, especially with meat.
Your dish looks delicious – and I love zucchini too. 🙂
I second the Spanish smoked paprika. Look for Pimenton de la Vera. It should have a picture of a little monk which is the symbol of D.O. for this spice. I use it in just about everything. It’s smokey, and a little sweet, and more spicy than sweet paprika. It’s a truly wonderful spice and when paired with pork is nearly orgasmically good!
I’ve never tried the Spanish smoked paprika, but I absolutely must have Hungarian paprika around at all times. Love the addition of fennel, too. I use the seeds often if I’m making a tomato sauce. After I get over my addiction to beets and tuna, I’ll be ready for some pork chops!
Thanks for an interesting post, Terry. I have just begun using smoked paprika, which I really like. As for fennel, it’s a staple in this Italian household. I use it in everything from salad dressings to breads to desserts. In fact, I can’t smell fennel without being reminded of my Italian grandmother who loved it!
Okay, I can see I’m going to have to make this again using smoked paprika. Oh, the suffering.
Patricia—I agree that the menfolk in your household will love this. Since Joao isn’t a big fan of spicy, I would use sweet paprika, not any of the hot varieties.
Ann—I had actually read about the D.O. designation—it stands for Denominations of Origin. That’s how serious the Spaniards are about their paprika.
Toni—I’ll have to try fennel seeds next time I make a red sauce.
Susan—What a great memory! I’ve read that smell is actually the most powerful of the senses in terms of evoking memories. I’m intrigued by all your uses of fennel, I’m assuming in various forms—not just the seeds. I need to explore it more.
Pork is a big French-Canadian thing, too, at least in my experience. Your fusion dish looks so enticing!
I have yet to find smoke paprika locally, though.
Hi, Mimi—Good to hear from you after your wonderful Paris trip! This dish is quite tasty with readily available Hungarian sweet paprika [or sweet paprika from any source, really]. But for the smoky Spanish paprika—or any hard-to-find herbs or spices—I would encourage you to check out the Spice House. If their online shop is anything like their actual stores in Chicago and [I think] Milwaukee, you will not be disappointed.
http://www.thespicehouse.com/
Beautiful recipe – and I love the flavor combination. Lovely!!
Those succulent zucchini spoke to me…being a veggie et all…got any
summer zucchini killer recipes??
Cara
Thanks, Kirsten. And I love how you dubbed my knife story in WTF the Velveteen rabbit of the food world!
Cara—Nick over at The Paupered Chef has actually just posted a very cool recipe for Zucchini Carpaccio.
Oh dear. Again you’re mistaken. Spanish cuisine is not based in pork. We certainly have pork. But also beef and lamb, and all sorts of fish and vegetables, and over 200 varieties of cheese. Spanish cuisine is as varied as you can imagine in a country where 3 cultures have mixed over 7 centuries, where we have desserts and mountains and many kilometres of coast line some as close to africa as 15kms and some only a few hours by ferry from England. We have a border with france, and another with Portugal, so we also have influences from their cuisine. We also “touch” two different seas and an ocean. I don’t know what part of Spain your friend visited, but I’m sure he didn’t travel much around the country. Don’t make comments so freely about countries you don’t know, and if you realy have to write about one of them, please, do some research before you do. To be totally honest, I find it quite insulting, to find comments such as this post about my country.
Beatriz—Sorry my post offended you! I didn’t mean to imply that in Spain you only eat pork, merely that Spain is well known for knowing how to cook it well. At the same time, when we had dinner at the home of a friend from Barcelona, she treated us to a meal with many meat courses, most of them pork. So if anything, I’m guilty of simple exaggeration.