Pork chops, apple pie, green olive sauce
Marcus Wareing matches succulent barbecued pork chops with a savoury apple pie and tangy green olive sauce in this easy-to-make yet seriously impressive dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 x 4-bone pork loin rack (best end), sliced into 4 chops, fat scored
- 2 tbsp black peppercorns
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted
- 2 tbsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 3 tbsp soft brown sugar
For the apple pie
- 4 large Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp grain mustard
- 30g/1oz butter
- 350g/12oz shortcrust pastry
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 2 tsp nigella seeds
- 2 tsp dried onion flakes
- 1 tsp Maldon salt
For the green olive sauce
- 200g/7oz pitted green olives
- 200ml/7fl oz warm chicken stock
- 50ml/2fl oz extra virgin olive oil
- 1 slice white bread, crust removed
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ lemon, juice only
Method
Light the barbecue, using charcoal and some apple wood on the side to give a smoky flavour to the chops. Allow the flames to flare up and die down, then wait until the coals are glowing.
Using a pestle and mortar, grind the peppercorns, fennel seeds and salt to a fine powder. Stir through the thyme and sugar. Season the pork with the mix and set aside while you make the apple pie.
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat.
Put the apples into a pan, sprinkle with the thyme, salt, fennel and mustard, add the butter and 20ml/¾fl oz of water, cover and cook until just soft. Strain through a sieve; reserve the juice and leave the apples to cool slightly.
Roll out the pastry and divide it in half. Each half should be large enough to cover a 28cm/11in pie plate. Roll half over the plate and leave the edges overhanging. Place the second piece of pastry on a tray to rest in the fridge.
Spoon the apples into the plate, leaving a 2cm/¾in border. Lightly brush the border with beaten egg. Place the second piece of pastry on top and crimp the edge with a fork, pressing down to seal the edges. Trim off any excess pastry. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and cut a small hole in the top to allow steam to escape. Sprinkle over the nigella seeds, onion flakes and salt.
Place the pie plate on the hot baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden and starting to lift away from the edge of the plate.
While the pie is cooking, place the chops on the middle of the barbecue and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until they have nice grill marks, then turn them over and move to the edge of the barbecue where the heat is less direct. Turn them every so often until golden brown and the meat feels firm to the touch, around 20–30 minutes. Transfer to a tray to rest for at least 10 minutes, adding the reserved apple juice.
To make the olive sauce, put all the ingredients apart from the lemon juice into a high-speed blender and blitz for 2–3 minutes until smooth. Add lemon juice and salt to taste.
Slice the chops into thick chunks and serve with the apple pie and olive sauce. Spoon any resting juices over the meat.
Recipe Tips
Marcus recommends Mangalitza pork, which has rich, dark meat. If you can’t find it, choose top-quality free-range pork for maximum flavour. A pork loin rack has two ends – one is the 'best end', whilst the other has more fat. Ask your butcher for the best end.
