Stuffed Pork Chops and Risotto

I have been craving pork chops ever since Chad and I bought them when we were out grocery shopping. I planned on cooking them this evening, but after a grueling work out after work, I was pooped! I was still intent on making those pork chops though, and headed into the kitchen to do some inventory on the ingredients on hand.
I started in the fridge with the center cut butterflied pork chops. Then I browsed the ingredients I had in the pantry. I pondered a bit about what to make and then came up with this concoction. Stuffed pork chops with fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and thick cut bacon. And for tonight's side, mushroom risotto with toasted pine nuts and peas.
I was very pleased with this meal, and surprisingly, Chad didn't complain about the mushrooms in the risotto, he even said "This is awesome! The flavor combination with the peas and pine nuts is so good I don't even care about the mushrooms." So he was happy, which makes me happy. And for the second night in a row, my husband ate vegetables he claims he doesn't like (i.e. the eggplant last night).

Stuffed Pork Chops

• 2 center cut pork chops butterflied, or you can cut a pocket
• 2 slices bacon
• mozzarella cheese
• 4 large fresh basil leaves
• salt, pepper, garlic powd

Turn broiler on to 500 degrees. Season pork chops with salt, pepper, and a litte garlic powder on both sides. Lay the bacon, then mozzarella, and finally put 2 fresh basil leaves on one side. Secure both sides with tooth pics. Heat olive oil in a meduim sized oven safe skillet, over medium high heat. Sear pork chops on each side, about a minute or 2 or until ther is a nice brown color on each side. Transfer to oven and broil 2-3 minutes per side or until internal temp. reaches 140 degrees.

• Mushroom Risotto with Peas and Pine Nuts
  1 1/2 cups arborio rice or short grain rice
• 4 oz. crimini mushrooms chopped
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (I toasted mine in the toaster oven)
• 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (heated through)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 TBS. olive oil
• 1 TBS. unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup grated asiago cheese
• 2 TBS. heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add butter and olive oil. When butter starts to foam, add onions and mushrooms. Saute for about 5 minutes and add garlic, saute a minute more. Add Rice and saute for about 2 minutes to get it nice and toasty. Add wine and deglaze scraping any bits off the bottom of the skillet. When wine has been absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock and stir frequently until absorbed. continue adding 1/2 cup of stock at a time until you have only 1/2 cup left. Add peas pine nuts and the remaining 1/2 cup of stock when almost completely absorbed add asiago and cream and cook a few minutes longer. The total cooking time should be around 30 minutes.