Pan fried pork steaks with chilli, mint & peas.
The 20 minute supper that will take you through spring and into summer.
This month here on ingredient we’re focusing on fresh mint, the most herbal of the herb family whose calming yet refreshing aroma that helps us transition between the seasons.
Find out more about it and get the recipe for my Fresh Mint & Ginger Lemonade here. Paid subscribers will be getting another mint-focused recipe later in the month. Upgrade your subscription to unlock every recipe in the ingredient archive!
I came up with this simple preparation for boneless and fat cap free, but still beautifully marbled native breed saddleback pork steaks last summer when I was looking for something special to do with my first harvest of garden peas. I’m a fresh-pea-in-pod fiend - growing up one of my favourite snacks was a big bag of peas in their pods so I could eat them straight from their shells - and in the garden they’re rarely safe from me just picking them and eating them then and there. For me, there is nothing else like the joy of the seasons first pea pushed from the safety of it’s pod.
But, I wanted to do something special with those peas. I had chillis in the fridge for flavour as well as colour, and for the herb I’d throw in the pan the bushy pot of mint by the garage door was the obvious choice: the perfect partner for peas and pork, but most importantly it is strong enough, unlike basil which at first glance might have been another good option to be roughly chopped and stirred through the hot pan sauce peas without wilting or losing it’s fundamental essence. This recipe is about the fortitude of mint once it meets heat, as much as it is about showcasing my favourite place to buy pork steaks or something to do with impossibly sweet homegrown peas that start to deteriorate the moment they’re picked.
As I have mentioned the fresh peas, you’re going to be asking why I’m sharing this recipe now in May when I’m talking about mint, rather in June or July for the harvest. Well, that deterioration I mentioned? That is halted pretty well when peas are turned into a freezer staple: frozen petit pois (always buy these instead of frozen peas as they better capture the joy of a freshly picked pea and have less risk of ending up mealy if cooked a little too long). I fully intend to start off making this recipe with those this year, before tucking this recipe away again ready to be dusted off once the fresh peas arrive: don’t worry, the mint will still be at it’s best throughout the summer.
By the way as a footnote, I always get my pork steaks from Pipers Farm which I can highly recommend. And I’m not just telling you this for later: they’re on sale at the moment. Also, full disclosure I’ll get 1,000 loyalty points if you do, but if you place your first order using this link you’ll get £10 off!
Pork Steaks with Chilli, Mint & Peas
Serves: 2, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 15 minutes
It only takes about 20 minutes to make this simple pork dish making it something suitable to lift the spirits at the end of a long day. Crushed new potatoes (or Jersey Royals if you’re celebrating the season - though now might be the moment to say I find their prized flavour a bit much) are good with this if you have time, but I usually make do with a couple of pieces of crusty bread to mop up the remainder of those sweet and sour pan juices. Ciabatta is good, but anything really will do.
If you can’t find boneless pork steaks, this recipe will work with any piece of pork that pan fries well - jut adjust the cooking time accordingly. For any among you who are not pork eaters but have made it this far through sheer love of reading (thank you!) I have a suspicion this would also be good with lamb chops or leg steaks, but I’ve yet to give it a go.