Iberia meets Italia—for dinner.

My friend Stan went to Spain last year. After he got back, the first thing I asked him about was the food, of course. He said that most restaurants offered pork, pork and more pork. Stan is Jewish, so he would notice this sort of thing.

To be fair, he did find other things to eat in Spain [and as he admitted to me later, did finally succumb to the delights of pig meat in his travels]. But Spanish cuisine does embrace meat in general and pork in particular, in all its forms, both fresh and cured. The small, dense Spanish chorizo sausages, a completely different, um, animal from the Mexican variety, are wonderfully intense. I know I’ll feature them in at least one upcoming post.

And to flavor all this meaty goodness? Paprika, of course. Paprika [or pimentón, as it's known in Spain] is one of the essential ingredients of Spanish cuisine. It is made from ground aromatic sweet red peppers and ranges in flavor from mild to hot and in color from bright orange-red to blood red. Originally from the Americas, most commercial paprika now comes from Spain, South America, California and Hungary.

The Italians are no slouches in the consumption of pork either. And for them, one spice of choice for combining with it is fennel seeds. If you doubt this for a moment, just wait ’til the fennel seeds hit the hot skillet—you will smell the essence of Italian pork sausage. Fennel seeds have been compared to anise, but while they do have a big flavor, it’s not as pronounced in its licorice flavor as anise.

In this recipe, paprika and fennel come together to deliver a nice, subtle complexity in a quick, easy-to-make main course.

Pork Chops with Paprika and Fennel Seeds
Serves 4

4 center-cut bone-in pork chops
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons + a couple of pinches paprika, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil [+ additional, if needed]
1 leek, white and light green parts [you can also use a medium onion]
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Cooked white rice

Prepare leek. Cut off roots, a bit of the white base and the green tops. Slice in half lengthwise [rinsing under running water if it seems gritty inside] and slice crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.

Pat chops dry with paper towel. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of paprika on both sides. According to some Nigella Lawson measuring spoons I happened on over the weekend, a pinch is 1/8 teaspoon. Another mystery solved.

Heat a heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil—when it begins to shimmer, add chops. Sauté on one side until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn chops, reduce heat to medium and cook about 3 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Add leeks and fennel seeds to same skillet [drizzling in a little extra oil, if needed] and sauté until leeks are tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Mix in remaining paprika; stir 15 seconds. Add wine, broth and lemon juice and boil until sauce reduces slightly, scraping up browned bits. Return chops [and any accumulated juices] to pan to warm through and finish cooking, just a couple of minutes.

Transfer chops to individual plates, along with servings of rice. Spoon sauce over pork chops and rice.

Kitchen Notes

Flavoring the Chops. The original recipe didn’t bring the meat together with the sauce [or any of the paprika] until you were spooning the finished sauce over the chops on the dinner plates. I like to bring flavors together earlier in the game. My recipe introduces a little extra paprika right away, then lets the chops finish in the sauce for more flavor.

On the topic of chops and flavor, do use bone-in chops. Sure, you can make this with boneless chops [and I was a fan of the America's cut boneless chops for a while], but the bone imparts a satisfying meaty depth.

And yes, that’s zucchini on the side. Again. We like zucchini.

Also this week in Blue Kitchen

Rescuing an old friend and getting a slice of culinary life in the bargain at WTF? Random food for thought.

Trippy hippie music from the town that brought you Andy Warhol at What’s on the kitchen boombox?