Pork with Ratatouille Sauce

Let’s Cook Low Fat, p. 12

4 lean, boneless pork chops, about 125g/4 ½ oz each

1 tsp dried minced herbs

Salt and pepper

Baked potatoes, to serve

Sauce:

1 medium onion

1 garlic clove

1 small green (bell) pepper

1 small yellow (bell) pepper

1 medium courgette (zucchini)

100g/3 ½ oz button mushrooms

400g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree (paste)

1 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar

To make the sauce, peel and chop the onion and garlic.

Deseed and dice the (bell) peppers.

They only had red ones at Walmart, instead of yellow. But red's pretty, too.

Trim and dice the courgette (zucchini). Wipe and halve the mushrooms.

Place all of the vegetables in a saucepan and stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree (paste). Add the dried herbs, sugar and plenty of seasoning.

I had never tried ratatouille before. But if this is it, I'm totally sold.

Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

The recipe seems to think that you'll just magically come up with baked potatoes by the end of the prep time. So FYI, this is a good time to go ahead and get those ready.

To made awesome Ponderosa-style baked potatoes, slather them in oil and roll them in salt before baking to get a nice crispy skin.

Potatoes radiate with salty deliciousness.

Meanwhile, preheat the grill (broiler) to medium. Trim away any excess fat from the chops, then season on both sides and rub in the dried mixed herbs. Cook the chops for 5 minutes, then turn over and cook for a further 6-7 minutes until cooked through.