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Phew this recipe title is a mouthful — and so is the dish! This Crispy Sage-Anchovy Pork with Cider Mashed Acorn Squash is a restaurant-worthy meal and would be perfect for an at-home date night as well.
Thick, juicy pork chops are seared until crispy on the outside and then topped with crumbled fried sage, minced anchovy, and lemon zest, and then served over a creamy acorn squash. The squash has a hit of apple cider vinegar to brighten up the dish and add a noteworthy contrast with the flavor-packed pork.
To make this recipe the most time efficient, preheat your oven while you’re prepping the ingredients. You can start cooking the pork when the squash has been in the oven 20 minutes. That way the pork will be resting while you are pureeing your squash mash, and dinner will reach the table hot and tasty! If you have a different cut of protein on hand, I assume chicken thighs would be quite delicious prepared this way as well. Enjoy!
- For the Crispy Sage-Anchovy Pork:
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 cup fresh sage leaves
- 10 oil-packed anchovy filets, minced
- ½ tsp grated lemon zest
- 4 large 1-inch thick bone-in pork chops (about 2 ½ lbs)
- 1 ½ tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp truffle salt or sea salt
- For the Mashed Acorn Squash:
- 2 small or 1 large acorn squash
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp coconut cream
- Sea salt, to taste
- For the Pork: In a large cast iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Fry sage leaves for 60 to 90 seconds per side until crisp. Transfer to a cutting board and finely crushed with a knife. Mix in minced anchovy and lemon zest and set aside.
- Pat pork chops dry. Rub sage and truffle salt evenly on both sides of chops. Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet over medium-high heat. Sear pork on each side for 5-6 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Let rest 5 minutes on cutting board before serving atop acorn squash mash and topped with crumbled fried sage and anchovy mixture.
- For the Acorn Squash: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice acorn squash in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on baking sheet and roast for 30 to 40 minutes depending on size of squash until golden and tender.
- Let cool for several minutes before measuring out 2½ cups of the flesh and pureeing with the vinegar and cream in a food processor or blender until smooth. Season with sea salt to taste.
2 comments
Made this last night for an at-home date night and it absolutely delivered! Husband loved it as did I and also appreciate the timing tips in the body before the recipe! Having a meat thermometer for the pork is also helpful. Adding this to my repoirtoire and will absolutely make this again! Thank you so much!
This is Amazing. We’ve made it repeatedly. We serve it to our foodie friends. It is a keeper. Served it for Thanksgiving and had it again for Xmas. No changes needed. Thank you for this recipe.