Picking a pork of pickled peppers
A pork chop smothered in vinegar peppers represents rustic Italian cooking at its best. A plated spin on the carnival-stand sausage-and-pepper sandwich, the dish ramps up mild-tasting pork with a powerful burst of bright acidity from peppers pickled in tangy vinegar.
Scouring the city for our fix of this classic combo, we suffered through plenty of overcooked chops, so dried-out even the potent peppers couldn't save the day. Finally, we found two that got everything right: at the North End's Prezza and Vinny's at Night in Somerville.
Vinny's got things started off moist and juicy with a 2 inch-thick pork chop, too hefty to dry out. Prezza returned the deft chop shot with a just-as-juicy volley - a slightly thinner cut brined overnight, then cooked to a rosy medium. Vinny's poured on a chunky gravy. Prezza built a nuanced red wine sauce. Bracing marinated peppers here; bracing marinated peppers there.
Vinny's delivered a bruising smash for the win with its side of crispy, skillet-charred smashed potatoes. But Prezza still had one more trick up its sleeve - a bread crumb crust, which provided the perfect crunchy foil to those soft roasted peppers and tangy vinegar. Out of bounds? A quick check of the rulebook confirmed our suspicions: All's fair in love and pork.
Advantage, Prezza.
TRY IT TONIGHT
Crispy pork chop with vinegar peppers (left), $28
Prezza, 24 Fleet St.,
Boston. 617-523-0077.
TRY IT AT NIGHT
Pork chop with vinegar
peppers, $20.95
Vinny's at Night,
76 Broadway, Somerville. 617-628-1921.
