Cook’s notes: Buy pork chops that are thick enough to stuff, at least 1 inch thick and about ½ pound each. I used bone-in chops for the recipe, but you can buy boneless. You can ask the butcher at the meat counter to cut a pocket for the ricotta filling if you don’t feel comfortable doing that yourself. You can also buy thin cut pork chops, and either skip the stuffing or putting the stuffing over the top of the cooked pork chops.

For the pork chops, pre-heat oven to 400 F and place the ricotta cheese in a medium size bowl and add the lemon zest, parsley, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and a couple cracks of pepper, mix well. Use a knife to cut a pocket in the pork chops for the stuffing, watch the video below to see exactly how I do this. Add 2 tablespoons of filling and make sure it’s evenly distributed in the pork chops. Repeat this process with the remaining chops. Add the almond flour to a dish big enough to fit one pork chop and season the flour with garlic and onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and a few cracks of pepper, mix well. Place the eggs in another dish along with 1 tablespoon of water and whisk well. Season both sides of the pork chops with a generous pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper. One at a time, dredge the chops in the eggs, making sure to thoroughly coat and shake off any excess. Then place the chop in the almond flour and make sure it is well coated on all sides, move chop to a sheet tray with a wire rack(if you have). Repeat with remaining chops. Allow the chops to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes so the almond flour can really stick to the chops, this will make the crust crispy. Meanwhile, add enough oil to a pan to come half way up the side of the chops and start to heat over medium-low.

Make the sausage gravy by pre-heating a medium size pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of oil, when the pan is hot add the sausage, making sure to break it up into the smallest size pieces possible. Cook for 5 minutes until the sausage is well browned and then add the cream, chicken stock, and a couple cracks of black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes until it has thickened to a gravy consistency. You can add more cream if needed, if the mixture does not get thick enough, you can add a ½ teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum, or corn starch(corn starch is not keto though). Remove from heat and set aside. Check for seasoning, you may need a pinch of salt.

Start the green beans by cutting the bacon into large cubes and placing them in a large pan, preferably cast iron. Cook over medium heat until the bacon has rendered most its fat and has become crispy, turning down the heat if needed. Remove bacon from pan and leave fat. Come back to the green beans later and proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Once the oil has come to 350 F, it’s time to fry the chops. Raise the heat to medium, you can drop a little almond flour in the oil and it should sizzle, if not, raise the temperature a bit. Add 2-3 pork chops to the pan, if the oil does not sizzle then it’s not hot enough. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until golden, flip and repeat. Place pork chops back on the sheet tray, and on the wire rack if you have it, and fry remaining chops. Transfer the chops to the oven and cook for 12-14 minutes, or until the internal temperature is 140 F. Remove chops from oven and allow to rest 5-10 minutes before eating.

While the chops are frying/roasting, make the green beans by pre-heating the cast iron pan with the bacon fat over high heat for 2 minutes, add a little more oil to the pan if there is not enough bacon fat and then add the green beans. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until blistered on the outside, but still a bit crunchy in the middle. Turn the heat off and add the pecans, lemon zest and juice, cooked bacon, ¼ teaspoon salt, a couple cracks of pepper, and mix well. Remove green beans from the hot pan or they will overcook.

Serve the chops with the sausage gravy poured over the top and some green beans of the side. Everything will keep in the fridge for 5 days, but can’t be frozen because of the ricotta cheese and heavy cream. It’s very important not to overheat the pork chops or the will get tough, so the best way to re-heat them is in a 400 F oven for 8-10 minutes along with the green beans. If using a microwave, cover the container with a wet paper towel and make sure to not heat too high or too long.