The next time you think of pork chops, elevate them to the next level by making this super easy, yet elegant, Wine Brown Butter Sauce. Pair it with a bottle of delicious Prosecco Superiore, and you’ve got yourself an incredible meal for date night or entertaining guests.
We’re very passionate about our bubbly around here. And ever since traveling to the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region of Northeast Italy, home of the best Prosecco, I’ve been preaching my love non-stop for the sparkling wines from this region.
And one of the things I love most about sparkling wine, and Prosecco Superiore in particular, is how well it pairs with a diverse variety of foods.
Sparkling wines are typically stereotyped into those strictly for celebrations or as an aperitif. But few people realize that when paired with food, sparkling wines are THE most versatile food wines around. Period.
You give me anything from a salad to a steak and I’ll find you a sparkling wine to pair. So I was beyond thrilled to partner up with one of my favorite sparkling regions on the planet to pair some of our favorite grilled foods (meat included!) with the versatile wines from this region. And to start, we’re grilling some pork chops.
But first, what’s the difference between Prosecco and Prosecco Superiore DOCG?
Simply put, Prosecco often gets lumped into one category — fresh, fruity, and inexpensive sparkling wine made throughout the Veneto region of Italy. But if you’re willing to look a little deeper, there’s so much more to Prosecco than it gets credit for.
Prosecco Superiore comes specifically from the hilly area of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, which includes 15 little towns located at the heart of the Veneto region, home of the highest quality DOCG wines of the region.
Why does this matter?
Because these wines are different than their better known counterparts, and are incredibly high quality for the price (you can find great examples from around $15-$25!). They are usually lower in sugar, so they don’t come across so sweet. Instead you get a great balance of fruit and floral flavors with fine, elegant bubbles.
And most of them are made by smaller, family-operated winemakers, with more attention given to the details. Essentially, you’re getting the highest quality product possible from the grapes of this stunning region.
And best of all, these wines are great with foods of all kinds.
We’ll go into more detail about what makes these wines unique in our next pairing post, but until then you can click here to learn more about the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region, where these wines are produced.
Now let’s talk Grilled Pork Chops with Wine Brown Butter Sauce
There are a million pairing options for Prosecco Superiore, but one of my favorite things to debunk is the idea of pairing sparkling wine with meat. Most folks will default to red wine or a rich white wine for a meat pairing (especially grilled meat). But sparkling, and Prosecco Superiore in particular, have both the richness and acidity to handle so many cuts of meat. Pork chops have a great natural sweetness to them, and when grilled take on a fantastic smoky char. The brown butter sauce we use is finished off with some of the Prosecco Superiore giving it a depth of flavor and acidity to brighten up the grilled meat and bring everything together.
Basically this pairing was made for Prosecco Superiore!
How to pick out the best pork chops for this recipe?
Since we’re grilling this, and you want it to cook evenly, you want thick chops. I mean like 1 ½ – 2 inches thick. Having thicker chops helps prevent overcooking your pork. You can go bone-in or boneless.
Next we’re going to season it with our herbed dry rub. This is going to add great flavor to that crust once we grill it.
How to Grill Pork Chops
We typically love to do a reverse sear on our pork chops, like this recipe. But for the wine we don’t want too much smoky flavor (this time). So we’re sticking to grilling hot and fast.
If you don’t have a grill you can mimic these same instructions over a searing hot cast iron pan on your stovetop.
Grill over direct heat on both sides for approximately 8 minutes per side, until internal temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit. After you pull the pork it will continue cooking another 5 degrees. The exact length of time will ultimately depend on the thickness of your pork chops. If you have too much flame under the pork, then set up the grill for direct and indirect cooking so you can move the pork chops over indirect heat.
Once they are finished, move to your brown butter sauce while the pork chops rest for a few minutes.
How to make the Wine Brown Butter Sauce
You can do this on a cast iron pan directly on your grill, or on the stovetop. Your choice. The grill will be a bit trickier to just make sure you don’t burn the butter.
Start by melting the butter in a pan (use a cast iron skillet if doing this directly on your grill). Let the butter slowly simmer for six minutes, until you start to see the butter start to turn a darker color. Then add your chopped shallots, garlic, sage, and salt. Let it mix until the vegetables soften and the sage starts to fry (about two minutes). Then pour in the wine and let it simmer one more minute. That’s it! So simple and it adds incredible flavor to your pork chops. Total time is about 9 minutes.
The last thing you need to do is to be sure to pour yourself a glass of Prosecco Superiore to pair with this simple, yet elegant dish to find out for yourself how great sparkling wines from this region can pair with grilled meat!
THE VIDEO
Grilled Pork Chops with Wine Brown Butter Sauce
Ingredients
For the Pork Chops:
- 2 thick cut pork chops, at least 1 ½ - 2 inches thick
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the Rub:
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
For the Prosecco Brown Butter Sauce:
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon shallots, diced
- 1 garlic clove, finely diced
- 2 large fresh sage leaves, julienned
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- ¼ cup Prosecco Superiore (or other white wine)
Instructions
- Preheat your grill for direct/indirect cooking.
- Mix the salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and sage in a bowl for the dry rub.
- Coat pork chops with olive oil and then liberally apply your dry rub to all sides. Like a lot of flavor? Consider doubling the dry rub ingredients. You can season the day before.
- Place pork chops on grill over direct heat for 6-8 minutes. You are looking for a good sear or grill marks. Avoid flame ups by keeping the lid covered on your grill. Flip the chops for another 6-8 minutes (again place lid on the grill). If you find your grill flaming too much, then move the chops to indirect heat. Remove from grill when internal temperature (IT) of the pork chops is 140 degrees F. Let rest while you make brown butter sauce.
- For sauce, over medium-high heat add butter to a cast iron pan. Let simmer for about six minutes, and then add salt, shallots, garlic, sage, and thyme for another two minutes. Finally add the wine to finish for one minute and remove from heat.
- Slice the pork chops and then cover with sauce. Serve with your favorite side. We love parsnip puree. Pair with the Prosecco Superiore DOCG!
If you like this recipe we’d truly appreciate it if you would give this recipe a star review! And if you share any of your pics on Instagram use the hashtag #vindulge. We LOVE to see it when you cook our recipes.
This post was sponsored by Consorzio di Tutela Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG. As always, all opinions are my own and I only work with folks I love and support. And I will always have a warm place in my heart for the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore growing region.
Lynn McGarrity says
Can I make the sauce ahead
Sean Martin says
Yes, you can. When the sauce cools, it will thicken. Simply place into a container before it hardens and add to a heated pan to liquefy again. It will last a few days in the refrigerator.