For my frist trip to ALDI, I suited up with my reusable bags, a quarter for my cart and $100 in gift certificates from Bon Appetit’s ALDI $10 Blogger challenge! So here is the deal I was challenged to make dinner for four a total of $10 with all ALDI products and then tell all of you about my first trip to ALDI (which will not be my last). Before I set out I was home thinking up vegetarian and egg dinner options assuming that with only $10 to spend that would be my best plan…was I wrong! This yummy $10 pork dinner is easy to make and it features organic spinach as well as imported pasta; Whole Foods look out ALDI is awesome.
I think I had forgotten about ALDI being a European chain, but as soon as I started shopping I was quickly reminded. I was instantly in European vacation nostalgia mode seeing French wine for $5.99 and gourmet Italian olives as well as cornichons pickles for less than two dollars. All these normally indulgent European treats were not only within the grocery budget they were so affordable they practically leapt into my cart. I think my favorite find is either the totally wonderful sustainable ecofriendly Moser Roth Germany dark chocolate bars or the tiny Nuremberg brats that I can’t wait to fry up for Sunday brunch with eggs this weekend.
My European culinary binge went into overdrive when I found the imported spaetzle, I love spaetzle. What goes better than pork with spaetzle? Nothing. I decided to lighten up what is often a very wintery dish by adding a fresh organic spinach salad and some bright green onions because it’s still way too hot in Florida to even think about a Jagerschnitzel with mushroom gravy. Add a nice bottle of that French Bordeaux and a dark chocolate bar for desert to your Florentine Pork Schnitzel & Green Onion Spaetzle and you still haven’t spent $20. ALDI will totally have me as a regular shopper!!
Florentine Pork Schnitzel & Green Onion Spaetzle
Ingredients
For the Schnitzel
- 2-2.5 lbs package of assorted pork chops thin cut bone in
- 1 cup Chef’s Cupboard Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Half a lemon
For Florentine Salad
- Half a 5oz package organic baby spinach
- Small onion sweet if you have it, sliced very thin
- 1 tbsp of Burmans spicy brown mustard
- Half a lemon
- 1 tsp olive oil
For the Spaetzle
- Half a stick of butter
- Half a 17.6 oz bag of Deutsche Kuche Egg Spaetzle
- One Bunch green onion diced
- Olive Oil and Salt and Pepper
Instructions
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Put a pot of water on to boil add two tablespoons of salt for the spaetzle. Pre heat oven to 300 degrees, you will use the oven to keep the schnitzel warm.
Schnitzel
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Pound out the thin cut chops with a small mallet or frying pan, I cover the meat with a sheet of plastic wrap before pounding to make clean up easy. Be careful to not hit the bone. Once all your chops are pounded out set them aside. To make your breading station: in one flat bowl crack the egg add a splash of water and whisk until mixed, put breadcrumbs in a second flat bowl and then season them with few turns of ground black pepper. Place the bowls near the pounded out chops so you can easily dip and bread each chop before it goes in the pan.
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Heat a generous drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip a chop in egg then the breadcrumbs, coating evenly, then place in the hot skillet. My large pan accommodates two chops at a time, don’t over crowd. Working in batches bread and cook all your chops. I place the cooked chops on a baking sheet in the hot oven to keep them warm until the rest of the meal is complete. The chops should cook quickly only about 3-5 minutes a side, be careful not to burn them, just cook until breeding turns golden. If the oil in the pan gets black-brown or smells burned you will want to dump out the oil, wipe the pan and add fresh oil.
Spaetzle
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When the pot of salted water is boiling add the half bag of spaetzle. Cook per the package directions, 12 minutes then drain. When the meat is cooked, I wipe out the same pan then melt the half stick butter in it. Allow the butter to brown just enough to smell a little nutty and start to foam. Toss in the spaetzle in the brown butter, turn off the heat and add in the diced green onion. Taste and add salt and pepper to suit your family, and put in serving bowl.
Final Assembly
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Mix the mustard, juice of half the lemon, and a teaspoon of olive oil for a light dressing. Toss the thin sliced onion and baby spinach in the dressing. Remove the cooked schnitzel from the oven where it’s keeping warm and place on serving plate, squeeze half a lemon over the chops, then top with the dressed spinach salad. Serve the Spaetzle as a side dish.
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If you have other veggies you like feel free to embellish the spinach salad, I bet roasted mushrooms or fresh cherry tomatoes would be tasty additions. Serve this flavorsome and light dinner with a crisp white wine. I turned the leftover pork chops into sandwiches that my husband took to work the next two days, topped with more of the spinach, the brown mustard and a slice of Swiss cheese.
What I Spent:
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Pork $ 5.58
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Spaetzle $ 0.99
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Spinach $ 1.25
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Butter $ 0.42
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Egg $ 0.20
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Breadcrumbs $ 0.12
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Onion $ 0.15
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Lemon $ 0.15
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Green onion $ 0.99
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Total $ 9.85
Recipe Notes
What I Spent:
Pork $ 5.58
Spaetzle $ 0.9
Spinach $ 1.25
Butter $ 0.42
Egg $ 0.20
Breadcrumbs $ 0.12
Onion $ 0.15
Lemon $ 0.15
Green onion $ 0.99
Total $ 9.85
