Herbed Pork Chops with White Wine Reduction

On my birthday I roasted a butternut squash.

I'm weird.  But that was what I really wanted to do.  My intention was to cook this soup (which ended up being delicious).  But at some point during the day I realized I wanted to make dinner for my boyfriend that evening and didn't have anything at home except a cold, cooked squash.

I asked him to pick up a couple cheap pork chops and, following the techniques I had tried the week before with a similar recipe, made up this birthday dinner thing.

I prefer the pork chops without the bone, but I left them in this time since I was in a bit of a hurry to feed a hungry boyfriend around 9pm (someone's b-day cocktails at Hock Farm went a little long...)

For the meat:
Two pork chops, bone in or trimmed
Two cloves garlic, minced
Two sprigs rosemary, chopped
1 1/2 cups white wine

For the roasted butternut squash puree:
See Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Recipe for the base

Salt and pepper the pork chops heavily.  Heat olive oil in a pan over medium high heat and sear the pork chops, a few minutes on each side, until browned but not cooked through.  Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Turn down the pan to medium and add the white wine to deglaze, scraping the bottom of the pan.  Add the minced garlic and rosemary and cook until wine is reduced by half.

Meanwhile, add 1 cup pureed roasted butternut squash to a saucepan and heat over medium.  Add half and half or heavy cream, a little at a time, stirring until smooth.  Add 3/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and season with pepper to taste.

When cheese is melted and wine is reduced, add the pork chops and any plate juices back to the wine reduction.  Spoon the sauce over the pork chops and warm through in the pan.

Serve the pork chops on a bed of the roasted butternut squash puree and top with the rosemary and garlic reduction.

Enjoy!

Happy birthday.