Pork chops with figs and Marsala

Ingredients

• 6 fat, moist dried figs
• 175ml Marsala
• 2 x 200g pork chops
• salt and pepper
• 20g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• leaves from 3 sprigs of fresh thyme

Method

Trim the little stalks off the figs. Put them into a small pan with the Marsala and bring just up to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave for 30 minutes so the figs can plump up.

Season the chops on both sides. Melt 10g of the butter and 1 tsp of the oil in a frying pan and quickly brown the chops over a medium-high heat on both sides. You just want to get some colour (as that gives them flavour) not cook them through. Make sure to get the fat brown too. Put them in a shallow ovenproof dish where they can sit snugly without much room around them.

Sauté the onions in the rest of the butter and oil (in the same pan) until they are really soft and pale gold. It will take about 12-15 minutes on a very low heat. Season and add the thyme. Add the figs and Marsala and heat to boiling. 

Stir everything together then spoon the onion and fig mixture thickly over each chop. Put into an oven preheated to 190 C and cook for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.