I definitely did NOT eat a lot of lamb or veal growing up, but cooking through these recipes has given me the opportunity to try out some different dishes these days. On a recent Costco trip we found lamb chops on sale, so I decided to use them for 10-17: Lamb Chops with Mozzarella.
This seems like a strange trend that Simply Delicious is perpetuating–7-2: Pork Chops with Tomatoes is essentially the same idea except with pork, Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and green beans. Take meat, stack a slice of cheese and random fridge/pantry items on it, call it a recipe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I feel like they’re trying to evoke a faint Greek/Mediterranean vibe with the use of lemon, olives, & basil, but maybe they’re trying to chill it out with the mild Mozzarella cheese? I’d much prefer a Feta or some other kind of similar crumbly cheese with this, I think.
Ingredients. These chops are relatively small, but there’s a good number of them. I had some fresh basil from the CSA box, but no sliced Mozzarella, so we’ll have to go with shredded.
Don’t put salt on your chops until right before you’re about to put them on the heat–it’ll draw too much moisture out of the meat and you won’t get that nice surface sear when they hit the hot pan.
Used my cast-iron pan for these chops, since I planned to cook them on the stove for the first side and in the oven for the other–similar to a restaurant-style steak. The cast-iron does well in either environment, and usually gives a nice crispy crust (when you use butter, which I added in on my own). I actually used two cast-iron pans–I couldn’t fit all the chops in one.
Cut my basil chiffonade-style because it looks pretty.
After flipping the chops the first time–now they go in a 350° F oven for about 5 minutes.
After their trip through the oven, I let the chops rest on a cooling rack/pan drainer set-up.
While my chops rested, I sliced my lemons and olives, along with the rest of my basil.
Meaty, bright, and cheesy–with a bit of fresh tang. There’s a lot going on here, and surprisingly it actually all works pretty well. Maybe for a summer grill session or barbecue?
Grade: A
