"Grown Up" Pork and Beans

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Big doin's in these parts people!  For the first time ever tonight... I cooked pork... we ate it... and we all lived.  And it was good! 

HALLELUJAH! 

Unfortunately pork falls into the same category as tilapia in these parts.  The category of "well I gave it the old college try but that's disgusting, break out the PB&J".

Last week ABC kicked off a new food show called The Chew.  It's basically a talk show, only about food and with my girl crush Carla Hall.  The first recipe cooked on the show was Michael Symon's grown up pork and beans and it looked amazing (and simple!).

This more adult version includes prosciutto wrapped pork with wilted spinach, canellini beans and an amazing lemon butter sauce.  Technically the original called for kale but I'm going through a bit of a spinach phase so I swapped it out. 

It was unbelievable!  I've broken the pork curse.  The prosciutto makes the outside of the pork crispy and a little bit salty.  The shallots get soft and the wine, butter and lemon juice combine to make the most delicious sauce.  The lemon is a really nice pop of flavor, especially with the spinach. And despite the fact that everything is cooked in the same pan, each item retains elements of it's original taste profile.  So it feels like 3 individual items, not a one pan meal. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I cut the pork to check it. 
I figured keeping my dinner companions alive trumped a pretty photo.

This got 3 out of 3 stars.  Roy, who has been the leader of the "no pork in this house" campaign, actually took a second helping and poured the last of the juices all over his food.  The serving size for this recipe don't look too big but they're super filling.  Beans and their fiber, you know.

Anyone else out their watching The Chew?  What do you think so far?

*****

Grown Up Pork & Beans
From Michael Symon, The Chew
Takes 30 mins, serves 8

From the store...
8 Pork Cutlets
8 Slices Prosciutto
1 Shallot (Minced)
1/2 Cup Dry white wine
Juice and Zest of 1 lemon
4 cups torn Spinach
1 12 oz can white beans (canellinis) drained and rinsed

From your pantry...
Flour for Dusting
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

Using a meat mallet, pound each pork slice to about 1/8-inch thick.  Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each piece of cutlet to form a sandwich.  Pound lightly with the meat mallet to secure it to the pork.

In a 12 inch saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the olive oil over high heat until it foams and subsides.

Put the flour in a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper.  Dredge the cutlets lightly in the flour.  Add to the pan and cook for 2 minutes on each side.  (NOTE: it took me about 6-7 minutes to cook each piece of pork.  Probably because I didn't get it thin enough). Transfer cooked pork to a platter and keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Add the minced shallot to the pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cook for 1 minute.

Pour the white wine into the pan and reduce, stirring with a wooden spoon to dislodge the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

Add the spinach and toss to wilt/combine.  Add the beans.  Add the lemon zest and juice.  Pour the extra sauce over the pork cutlets and serve immediately.

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