This pork-chop recipe from a famed Italian restaurant is 'magical' because it's so easy to make, according to 'Somebody Feed Phil' host Phil Rosenthal (2024)

"There's no bigger fan than me," Rosenthal told Insider of good food. And out of the 60 recipes in his book — all of which he said were the most-requested among viewers of the show's first four seasons — his favorite is a simple pork chop.

"It's my favorite because it's maybe the simplest one, so even I could do it," Rosenthal said. "And it's kind of magical in that it's so easy to do."

"It has this unbelievably complex and delicious flavor," he continued. "It's so popular, there's a line out the door for this place in Venice. And when you make it at home, it kind of transports you right there."

The recipe comes from chef Ernesto Ballarin of Vini da Arturo in Venice, Italy.

"When I opened this restaurant in 1968, people said I was crazy in Venice to have only meat, no fish," Ballarin said in a quote that accompanies the recipe in Rosenthal's book."This is one of our most popular dishes."

The restaurant's walls are lined with photographs of celebrities who have visited, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Barbra Streisand.

Although it's a relatively easy recipe, Ballarin warns home cooks that they "need to pound the pork chop very thin" for it to turn out the way it does in his restaurant.

See da Arturo's recipe for Braciola all'Arturo below.

Serving size: 2

Ingredients

• 2 8- to 10-ounce (225 to 280g) pork chops, preferably bone-in
• 1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups (165g) fine bread crumbs
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Fine sea salt
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 cup (240ml) white wine vinegar, divided

Instructions

Use the smooth side of a meat mallet to pound the pork chops as thin as possible without tearing the meat (about 1/4 inch or 6mm thick). If using pork chops with the bone, pound the meat up to the bone but leave the bone in place.

Put the pork chops on a sheet pan, sprinkle the flour evenly over both, and toss the pork chops in the flour until well coated.

Put the bread crumbs in a mound on another sheet pan and put the eggs in a large bowl.

Dip 1 floured pork chop into the eggs, shake off the excess, then lay the pork chop on top of the bread crumbs and flip the pork chop in the bread crumbs until evenly coated. Dip the pork chop again in the eggs, coat it a second time in the bread crumbs, and sprinkle both sides with the salt, to taste. Bread the remaining pork chop the same way.

Heat about 1 inch (2.5cm) of oil over medium-high heat in a large cast iron skillet or sauté pan (large enough for 1 pork chop to lay flat) until very hot. Test the oil by adding a few bread crumbs; they should sizzle. Add 1 pork chop to the skillet and fry until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes, flip, then brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer. Transfer the pork chop to a plate.

Carefully pour the hot oil from the skillet into a saucepan or metal bowl (save the oil for the second pork chop).

Return the pork chop to the skillet, pour 1/2 cup (120ml) of the vinegar evenly over the surface of the meat, and cook over medium heat, flipping the pork chop occasionally, until the vinegar has mostly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Transfer the pork chop to a plate, let rest for 5 minutes, and serve.

When ready to cook the second chop, pat the skillet dry with paper towels, pour the reserved oil through a strainer into the skillet, and add more vegetable oil, if needed, to fill the skillet by about 1 inch (2.5cm). Fry the remaining pork chop the same way, let cool completely, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Serve the second pork chop at room temperature.

Tip: Use the smooth side of a meat mallet, not the textured (tenderizer) side to pound the pork chops to avoid tearing the meat.

Excerpted from "Somebody Feed Phil the Book: Untold Stories, Behind-the-Scenes Photos, and Favorite Recipes: A Cookbook." Copyright © 2022 By Phil Rosenthal and Jenn Garbee. Photography Copyright © 2022 By Richard Rosenthal and Ed Anderson. Reproduced By Permission of Simon Element, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster. All Rights Reserved.