Hawaiian Pizza Pork Chops

For those of you who liked the most recent pork post, I have another dressed up chop for you today!

This was one of those meals where I'd surveyed the offerings in the fridge, then flung open the pantry doors, stood there looking at the assorted nonsense on the shelves, ... and then light bulb went off. The fridge had sliced honey ham and shredded mozzarella. The pantry had dried herbs and a can of crushed pineapple left (why I had this, I could not tell you). Ham plus pineapple equals the fruitiest pizza topping combination around: Hawaiian.

I started out with two boneless pork chops (though this could totally work with chicken, too). Since our butcher had cut them extremely thick, I halved them and had four thinner chops. Then, I topped each with some of the pineapple having drained it very well in a colander. On top of that, I laid out a slice of honey ham and sprinkled the tops with shredded mozzarella cheese.

I also gave each chop a hefty shake of dried oregano on top (plus some cracked black pepper). It must have been that my hometown pizza joint served an oregano-heavy sauce because to me, the smell brings me immediately back there, hoping Mom or Dad would slip me some change to play Pac-Man while we waited for our pie.

The chops went into a 375 degree oven for about 25 - 30 minutes and came out with that gorgeously golden brown, semi-crunchy melted cheese that makes your mouth start to water.

The chops shared the oven with a tray of cauliflower florets tossed in smoked paprika. A large kale Caesar salad rounded out the final plate.

Winner, winner, Hawaiian pork chop dinner. Every single flavor came together perfectly.

The pineapple was juicy and sweet, the ham played off the pork perfectly, the cheese added a great salty bite, and the oregano just gave off that telltale pizza parlor aroma. I especially liked that I cut the chops thinner because each and every single bite was the perfect balance of pork, pineapple, ham, and cheese. These sweet and salty chops appeared on the menu again earlier this week - they are that big of a hit. Between these, the Cuban sandwich chops, and Everything Bagel Salmon, I think I have to start putting more already tried-and-true flavor combinations on top of protein! I'll be sure to post whatever I come up with next.