When a pork chop fell out of the freezer, I took it as a hint that it was wanting to be dinner. It helped that this recipe was an easy way to get pork and veg on the table. Serves 4:
Sheet-Pan Pork Chops and Brussels Sprouts
- ½ tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more as needed
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes, or to taste
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
- 2 large bone-in pork chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick (about 1 3/4 pounds total)
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved through the stem
- ¼ cup whole sage leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Lemon wedges, for serving
In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, cumin seeds, ground cumin, black pepper, red-pepper flakes and garlic until mixture resembles wet sand.
Smear mixture all over pork and let sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes or refrigerate, covered, up to 24 hours.
Heat oven to 450°. In a bowl, toss Brussels sprouts and sage leaves with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread out on one side of a rimmed baking sheet. Add the pork to the other side of the sheet and place in the oven.
Roast pork chops and sprouts for 15 minutes. Flip the chops over and give the sprouts a stir and continue roasting until the pork is cooked through (135° for medium-rare) and the sprouts are browned and tender, 5 to 10 minutes more. Let pork rest 5 minutes before slicing off the bone as you would a steak. Serve together, with lemon wedges and enjoy!
My verdict:
This ended up being a week where the sheet pans got a good workout. Like the chicken recipe, the ease of cooking like this makes it a winner. I had some potatoes that I’d cooked, so I tossed them in the oil and added them to the sheet pan.
My only tweak to this might be to use fewer cumin seeds and increase the ground cumin. It seemed like a lot of seeds, but to be honest, I only cooked one giant pork chop, so the ratio of cumin seeds to pork might have been too high to begin with.
Any vegetable that takes well to roasting would be good if Brussels sprouts aren’t your thing. And I’m sure that lamb chops would do nicely instead of pork, but watch the time, as they generally run smaller.
