Pork Chops ‘n Noodle Treasure

A cheesy make-ahead complete dinner for six

Serves: 6

Medium

Pork chops, cheesy noodles and carrots combine for this make-ahead dinner.

This pork chops ‘n noodle treasure recipe makes a great all-in-one meal that’s fairly easy to make ahead and have ready for a quick mid-week meal. It’s got a really yummy cheesy sauce and the chopped pimentos being included give it an extra warm “home-y” feeling. The noodles I used were called “gigli” noodles that I purchased from Brandless.com, but I think you could easily use regular macaroni or any small, shaped noodle.

Couple of notes I have:

Make sure your pan is really hot so you can brown the pork chops quickly and not over cook them in the skillet. You really just want to get a good sear on them and then get them off the heat as they’ll cook more when you bake the dish.
I’m not sure Canned Baby Carrots are a common item in grocery stores any more so I bough fresh one. I figured we could steam those a bit and then use as the recipe call for but that didn’t really work so well. I think if I tried this recipe again, I might just slice a pound of carrots into medallions and add to the noodles and sauce before putting them in the bottom of the baking dish.

Other than those two things, this dish was really great and handy to make the day before and pop in the oven when we were ready to eat. I think you could easily try this recipe with other veggies as well and it could be pretty great.

If you try this recipe or have a good suggestion of how to make it next time, be sure to let me know in the comments!!

Steps:

Cook the Noodles
Boil a pot of SALTY water and cook the noodles according to the direction on their package. Since we'll be cooking the noodles more later, err on the lower side of the cook time. The package for my noodles said to cook them 8-10 minutes and I stopped their cooking right at 8. Be sure to drain the noodles and rinse them in cold water to stop them from cooking any more. Set aside.
Get Your Mise En Place Ready
Chop the onions, drain your jar of pimento and shred your cheese. You can use pre-shredded cheese, but the fresh grated melts much easier and will create a more creamy end result.
Coat the Pork
Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow, wide dish. Coat each pork chop in the mixture and set aside. ***RESERVE THE FLOUR MIXTURE FOR LATER**
Brown Pork Chops
Heat a cast iron or similar pan to medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1/4 Cup butter and onions. Add the pork chops to the pan to brown each side (4-5 minutes per side). Depending on pan size and pork chop size, you might need to do this step in two batches. The trick here is to get some good color on the chop without cooking it too much. Once meat is browned on all sides, set aside and keep the pan on the heat.
Make the Sauce
In the same skillet with the meat removed, add the second 1/4 Cup of butter and let melt. Stir in our reserved flour (from step 3) whisking all the time and slowly pour in the can of evaporated milk. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens (5-10 minutes). Once the sauce is good and thick, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the grated cheese and pimento.
Assemble Casserole
Add the cooked noodles to the sauce and make sure they are well coated. Prep a 9" x 13" pan by coating with cooking spray or butter. Place the noodles in the prepped pan and top with the brown pork chops. Cover and refrigerate for up to a day.
Cook It
Remove the dish 1 3/4 hours before cooking. Preheat the oven and bake at 375º covered for 1 1/4 hours. Uncover the casserole and add the baby carrots and continue to bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.