I know that the tradtion is to serve Apple Sauce with pork dishes especially Roast Pork but pears are becoming a very popular replacement.
Many recipes have roasted pears, using the nice Beurré Bosc pears which become very soft and creamy flavoured when roasted. I saw this recipe which combined pears, maple syrup and fresh thyme and was immediately excited by the thought of combining all three flavours - three of my favourite flavours.
The pork cutlets, were easy to cook so the hero of the dish was the Pear and Maple Sauce. And a hero it was... tasty and also very easy to make. The recipe called for the sauce to be blended at the end of the cooking time but I was impressed with the chunky rustic look and left it that way.
Pork Cutlets with Pear and Maple Sauce
(Recipe adapted from Weight Watchers Cook The Classics Cookbook)
Serves: 4
ProPoints per Serve: 8
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
3 pears, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup chicken stock
cooking spray
4 x 150 gram pork cutlets, fat trimmed
4 carrots, cut into batons
2 cups frozen peas
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and thyme leaves and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add pears, maple syrup and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until pears have softened. If desired, process pear mixture in a food processor until smooth.
Lightly spray a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium heat. Cook pork for 5 minutes each side or until browned and cooked through. Remove from pan and allow to rest.
Meanwhile, boil, steam or microwave peas and carrots until tender. Drain. Serve pork with carrots, peas and pear sauce. Add an addition 3 propoints if served with a medium baked potato.
