Italian Chops With Pasta -- The Pork That Held Ninety-Five Percent of My Hope

The vaccine news broke. Pfizer. Ninety-five percent efficacy. The data that meant this might end, that the pandemic might have an exit door, that the hallway we've been running down for nine months might actually lead somewhere instead of stretching forever into the fluorescent distance. Pete and I stood at the nursing station reading the announcement. Pete said, "Well." One word. The one word that contained nine months of masks and death and the specific, bone-deep exhaustion of pandemic healthcare. "Well." The understatement of the year, from the king of understatement.

I called Lourdes. "Mama, the vaccine trials look good." Silence. Then: "I'm not putting that in my body." The immigrant's caution. Not ignorance — Lourdes is not ignorant, Lourdes is cautious, the caution earned by generations of institutions that have not always treated Filipino bodies with the care they deserved. I don't push. I provide information. I wait. Lourdes will decide on Lourdes's timeline, the same way she decides about vinegar quantities and lumpia fillings and all things that matter — slowly, thoroughly, irrevocably.

I made sinigang — pork version, extra sour, the sourness matching the sharpness of cautious hope. Hope that is cautious is not less than hope that is bold — it's more careful, more earned, the hope of people who have been hoping for nine months and have learned that hope without evidence is just wishing, and wishing is for candles, not for pandemics. This hope has evidence. This hope has data. This hope has ninety-five percent. The sinigang was ninety-five percent sour. The other five percent was sweet. The five percent was enough.

That night I made sinigang, but Italian Chops With Pasta is the recipe I reach for on the nights that feel like a hinge — when I need pork’s specific gravity without the hour-long tamarind project, when the news has been too large and my hands need something to do that isn’t scrolling. Pork in tomatoes, pasta underneath: a different hemisphere’s answer to the same question sinigang always asks, which is what do you need right now? On vaccine-news nights, on Lourdes-is-cautious-and-that’s-okay nights, any answer that involves braised pork simmering on the stove is close enough to right.

Italian Chops With Pasta

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
• 8 oz penne or rigatoni pasta
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
• Fresh basil leaves, for garnish

Instructions

1. Season the chops. Pat pork chops dry and season both sides generously with salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning.
2. Sear the pork. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Sear chops 3 to 4 minutes per side until deeply golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside — they will finish cooking in the sauce.
3. Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
4. Build the sauce. Pour in diced tomatoes and chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Braise the chops. Nestle pork chops back into the skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until chops are cooked through and register 145°F on an instant-read thermometer.
6. Cook the pasta. While the chops braise, cook pasta in well-salted boiling water according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta cooking water before draining.
7. Combine and finish. Remove chops to a plate. Add drained pasta to the tomato sauce in the skillet and toss over medium heat to coat, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time to reach a saucy consistency. Taste and adjust salt.
8. Serve. Divide pasta among bowls and top each with a pork chop. Finish with Parmesan and fresh basil.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 530 | Protein: 40g | Fat: 19g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 490mg