Rachael Ray's Inside-Out Sausage Chops

Now that I'm home all the time, I watch a lot of TV. I've been trying to control myself, so I've started paying attention to what time certain things are on so that I can watch just that and not have the TV on all day. I've started regularly tuning in for the portion of Rachael Ray's talk show where she makes the food to see if it looks good. On a recent show (a re-run, I think), she made this recipe. I thought it sounded delicious, so I cooked it up a few days later. It was a hit!

Below is the recipe exactly as Rachael Ray wrote it, but I will give you a few cautions:

1. Rachael Ray makes way more food than necessary, so it's probably best to adjust the recipe to make the right amount for you and your family (for instance, we did 2 peppers instead of 3, but I think 1 would've been sufficient for our party of two). And when you reduce the amount of peppers, reduce the amount of oil you use or you'll have really oily peppers.
2. Rachael Ray loves onions. Please don't really use two whole onions to make four servings or everyone on the block will be able to smell you. I used a couple of slices of an onion and it was plenty for us.
3. If you don't like the way sausage tastes, you probably won't like this. The fennel seeds make it taste just like sausage.

Ingredients
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thickly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and thickly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thickly sliced
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless pork loin chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick (ask your butcher for these)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, shaved

Yields: 4 servings

Preparation
Preheat an oven to 400ºF.
Place the peppers on a baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons EVOO and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place in the oven and roast until tender, about 20 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, preheat 2 tablespoons EVOO, about two turns of the pan. Season the pork chops with salt and freshly ground black pepper, transfer to the hot pan and sear until brown on both sides, 3-4 minutes per side.

Transfer the chops to a sheet pan and allow them to finish cooking in the oven about 10 minutes (if using thinner chops, reduce your cooking time). Once the chops are cooked through, cover them with foil to keep them warm until ready to serve.

In the same pan the chops were cooked in, heat the remaining tablespoon EVOO, about one turn of the pan, over medium heat. Add the sliced onion, fennel seed, garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté until tender. Tent the onions with a piece of foil as they sauté so they slightly caramelize.

To serve, place one pork chop on each plate and top with caramelized onions and a sprinkling of shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Serve the roasted peppers alongside.