Spinach & Feta Stuffed Pork Chops

February 12th, 2009 by Lisa

When I married my husband, he told me that he did not like pork chops. This Spinach & Feta Stuffed Pork Chops recipe changed his mind! I found it perusing the Cooking Light magazine website a few months ago, and I’ve made it many times since. The addition of feta, sun dried tomatoes and lemon give the dish a lovely Mediterranean flavor, and the spinach keeps it full of veggies. It looks special enough to serve to company or on a special occasion, but start to finish it takes me about 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, diced
  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
  • 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
  • 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 2 garlic cloves; saut? 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, and spinach; saut? until moisture evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and rind.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper over pork. Arrange pork on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Combine remaining 2 garlic cloves, juice, mustard, and oregano in a bowl; stir well. Brush half of mustard mixture over pork. Broil 6 minutes; turn pork. Brush remaining mixture over pork; broil 2 minutes or until done. (Broiling usually takes me more like 8 minutes on each side.)

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