You hear a lot about “pork chops and applesauce.” But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we should be hearing a whole lot more about pork chops and potatoes. Well, pork chops and potatoes that are baked up in a creamy herb-scented sauce and topped with crispy breadcrumbs and cheese. Because that’s just what this is. It’s a casserole that’s pretty darn hard to beat.
The base layer here (and the carb-y comfort) is thinly sliced red potatoes that get simmered with some onions in a bit of cream until they’re just fork tender. You want to be sure they cook through but don’t fall apart, so slice ’em thin. A mandolin is your friend here. They form a little bed in the baking dish, and that’s topped with some fresh rosemary and nutty gruyere cheese.
Pat the pork chops dry and give them a sprinkle with some salt and pepper, but there’s no need to sear them or prep them in any other way. Just nestle them down into that creamy bed of onions and potatoes and top them with more cheese and some Panko breadcrumbs.
As they bake together in the oven, the onion-infused cream bubbles up around the meat and keeps it moist and tender. The cheese browns, the breadcrumbs get irresistibly crispy, the potatoes come out tender and full of flavor… It’s like a casserole dream fulfilled.
Pork Chop Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 large red potatoes, sliced 1/8-inch thick
- 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or Swiss cheese, grated and divided
- 6 (3/4-inch thick) boneless pork chops
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped and divided
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- In a small bowl, stir together the Panko breadcrumbs and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the onions, potatoes, and cream. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Continue simmering until potatoes are just fork tender, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat if needed to maintain simmer.
- Remove from heat and transfer potatoes and onions to prepared baking dish. (A slotted spoon works well.) Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese and half of the rosemary.
- Pour 1 cup of the cream from the saucepan over the potato mixture and discard the rest.
- Pat pork chops dry with a paper towel and drizzle them with remaining olive oil. Season each side liberally with salt and pepper, as well as the remaining rosemary. Rub to coat chops evenly with oil and seasoning.
- Arrange pork chops across the potato mixture, pressing them down lightly into potatoes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and then the Panko breadcrumbs.
- Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Bev Cooks.