Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Pork Chops

Do tornadoes scare the crap out of anyone else? Anytime I hear those sirens or that awful screeching coming from the tv my heart races...

I remember tornado warnings as a kid and grabbing pillows and burrying myself in a bathtub full of them and crying about how much I hated "tomatoes". Now I know they are not in fact "tomatoes" but I still have the urge to pull my memory foam matress into my bathroom and barricading myself with a pint of ice cream and hard liquor.

We are under a tornado warning in various parts of Ohio right now and I find it terrifying. The thought of a dark funnel cloud plummeting from the sky sends me into an immediate panic. Not to mention the thought of the recent tornado that touched down and killed over a hundred people makes me so sad.

There is something extremely terrifying about the lack of control available to you when a tornado hits and how utterly destructive they can be.

I just have to cross my fingers that these warnings are nothing and everyone will be okay. :/

There, now I have poured my heart out and shared one of my biggest fears...

On a more positive note...these pork chops are one of my favorite dinners to make. I have made them a couple of times and am always impressed with how delicious they are each time I eat them. I love goat cheese. It's tangy and creamy and pairs really well with the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes...

The filling can be a bit of a pain in the "arse" when you are cooking the pork chops because it wants to ooze out onto the pan...so try not to overfill the chops and if the filling starts oozing just use your spatula to shove it back in or throw the lost filling on top of your pork chops. Either way, it's going to be delish...guaranteed.

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Pork Chops
From foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 (10-ounce) bag of frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup (2 ounces) goat cheese
1/3 cup reduced-fat cream cheese
4 (4-ounce) center-cut pork chops
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 lemon, zested
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Directions:

Warm the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook until combined, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the goat cheese and the cream cheese. Stir to combine and set aside.
Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the thickest portion of the pork chop. Stuff each pocket with 1/4 of the spinach and sun-dried tomato mixture and close the pork around the stuffing. Season the outside of the pork with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, and mustard.
Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the pork. Cook until golden and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the pork to a side dish and tent with foil to keep warm. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet over medium-high heat. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan as the chicken broth simmers. Reduce the broth by half to make a light sauce, about 8 minutes. Spoon some sauce over the pork before serving.