Stuffed pork cutlets and sour cream sauce

This dish that marries classic Ukrainian ingredients is one of Ukrainian-Australian Sonja Bernyk’s family recipes. The leftover pork bones may be used to make stock, and will keep, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 (about 1kg) thick pork cutlets, excess fat trimmed
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 40 g butter, chopped
• ½ small onion, finely grated
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 50 g (¾ cup) stale breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp finely chopped dill
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• mashed potato and peas, to serve

Sour cream sauce

• 300 g sour cream
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped

Resting time: 30 minutes

Instructions

Using a small knife, remove and discard bones from pork cutlets. Lay pork flat on a chopping board and slice each cutlet horizontally to create a deep pocket. Place in a bowl, pour over lemon juice, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make sauce, place sour cream and onions in a small pan over medium heat, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until heated through and slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper, and keep warm.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Melt 20 g butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes or until golden. Add celery and stir for 2 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat. Stir in breadcrumbs, dill, parsley, garlic and milk. Season, transfer to a bowl and cool for 5 minutes. Wipe pan clean and reserve.

Remove pork from bowl and pat dry with paper towel. Using your fingers, open up pork pocket and spoon in breadcrumb mixture. Secure with toothpicks to enclose.

Heat oil and remaining 20 g butter in the reserved pan over medium heat. Add pork and cook for 3 minutes each side or until golden. Season and place on an oven tray. Cover with foil and bake for 8 minutes or until just cooked. Remove toothpicks. Serve with sour cream sauce, mashed potato and peas.

As seen in Feast magazine, Issue 9, pg147.

Photography by Brett Stevens.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.