Giada De Laurentiis’ Pan Roasted Pork With Cherry and Red Wine Sauce Is What’s For Dinner Tonight

Giada De Laurentiis makes getting dinner on the table for yourself or your family an uncomplicated affair with flavorful and healthy recipes.

If you’re looking for a quick and delicious idea for dinner tonight, De Laurentiis has got you covered with an elegant pork loin recipe in a red wine sauce that features tangy cherries.

De Laurentiis’ take on eating mindfully

In her new cookbook and lifestyle guide, Eat Better, Feel Better, the Food Network star reveals the process she’s gone through to achieve better health after years of what she calls a “constant cycle of eating and regret.”

Still, the Giada at Home star says that eating more healthfully doesn’t mean depriving yourself.

“Many people think there needs to be a drastic change in order to eat healthily, but that’s not true,” she told La Cucina Italiana last month. “My cooking still stays true to my Italian roots, with lots of delicious, fresh ingredients. Eating well is not about eliminating foods. It’s about noting how they affect you and eating less of those that challenge your health.”

Basically, the Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef advises putting on your detective’s hat to figure out what is working for your body.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t eat pasta or dairy,” she continued. “As an Italian, I would never tell you that! Eating well is about finding the right balance for you. The real goal is to rethink the food we’re putting in our bodies and reduce the amount of inflammatory foods and toxins, but not eliminate things entirely.”

De Laurentiis’ Pan-Roasted Pork With Cherry and Red Wine Sauce

In one of her latest Instagram posts, De Laurentiis is seen prepping dinner for her family. Saying, “Tonight, it’s pork! With a red wine cherry sauce,” the chef is seen searing a pork loin in a cast iron pan.

As the mother of one notes in her latest book, “make sure to buy cherries with no added sugar, because they are plenty sweet all on their own.”

For this quick recipe, you’ll need two thick bone-in pork loin chops, 10 to 12 ounces each; three tablespoons olive oil; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; one shallot, chopped; one cup halved frozen cherries, slightly thawed; one cup dry, fruity, light red wine, such as Pinot Noir; and 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Put the chops out about 10 minutes before you’re ready to start cooking.

De Laurentiis says that a large skillet is called for here, heated on medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons of the olive oil and heat it for a minute. Dry the pork and season it with one teaspoon of salt. Let the chops sear in the pan for four minutes or until they are nicely browned. Turn your chops over and cook another four minutes.

Transfer the chops to a baking sheet and cook in the preheated oven for five minutes, or until their internal temperature is 140 degrees F. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into the meat.

Now for De Laurentiis’ red wine and cherry sauce

While the chops are cooking, the chef says this is the best time to start on the cherry sauce.

The cherry sauce is made in the same cast iron pan after the pork is set aside to rest. Sautée the sliced shallot and salt in the pan over medium-high heat for one minute.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the cherries and the wine, scraping up any remaining bits on the pan bottom. Add the mustard and start whisking, adding the olive oil. Bring the mixture to a boil for between five to ten minutes to reduce it by one third. Spoon the sauce over the pork and serve.

Enjoy!