30 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
6 bone in pork chops
3 cups Italian salad dressing
Salt and pepper
4 cups premade stuffing
Make Dinner:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Marinate pork chops in Italian dressing in a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes. Heat cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Salt and pepper pork chops to taste and fry them in hot skillet for several minutes on each side, just until browned. Place first three pork chops in an 11 x 11 square baking pan. Spread stuffing evenly over pork chops. Place next three browned pork chops atop stuffing. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes until chops are cooked through. Serve with green beans or a crisp green salad.
Sage Stuffing
1 hour prep, 30 minutes bake time
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 loaves 100% whole wheat bread
1/2 pound ground sweet Italian sausage
1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup ground dried sage
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
Cooking Spray
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place individual slices of bread directly on oven rack and bake for 25 minutes until dry. (Chef's Note: One loaf of bread at a time fits in a standard oven so allow enough time to dry both loaves of bread.)
While bread is drying, brown Italian sausage in a large frying pan over medium high heat until cooked through,
about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a separate frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped onion, celery, garlic and ground sage. Saute until soft, about 10 minutes.
When bread is dry, break into cubes and place in large mixing bowl. (Chef's Note: This is a great activity to get the kids involved in the cooking!) Add Italian sausage and onion mixture to bread. Mix to combine. Add salt and pepper and 2 cups of chicken broth. Use hands to blend. Add 2 more cups of chicken broth and continue to blend bread and onion mixture until bread begins to break down forming a smooth texture. Add last 2 cups of broth and blend until mixture is soft and well combined. Spray an 11 x 11 baking dish with cooking spray and press stuffing into pan. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.