I want to get Jamie really excited about salmon tartare and little goat cheese tartlets. Snuggled together on the couch, we’d share a bottle of lightly oaked Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay and dish about the most recent episode of Bachelor Pad while flipping through the latest J.Crew.

Wouldn’t it be great if the men in all of our lives craved the same things that we did?

But that’s not going to happen. As Jamie said the night we returned from our honeymoon,

“I like meat and I like my own plate. We’re never going to share a tiny appetizer, a flatbread pizza and call it a night. I’m a man.”

After he beat his chest and stomped off into the twilight, I kind of began to understand what he was saying. Men, well, they like man food. At best, they like food that is filling and hot. This is where our Pork Scallopine comes to the rescue.

The pork is as lean as salmon and, because we pound it out until it’s thin, it cooks up in a flash. The finishing touches of roasted red peppers and capers are both salty and sweet and go really well with a compromise bottle of wine–either a sauvignon blanc or a nice pinot noir. The whole shebang is served with a little hill of our Zucchini & Squash Scapece.

Make our Pork Scallopine this weekend’s Date Night meal and maybe, just maybe, he’ll share the remote during football season.

Pork Scallopine w Roasted Peppers & Capers

  • 1 pork tenderloin (about 1.5 lbs), trimmed
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • extra virgin olive oil, as needed
  • 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeds removed and cut into strips
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • 1 garlic clove, smashed
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Here’s what you do:

With a sharp knife, cut the pork into 3/4 – 1-inch thick medallions. Place between two pieces of plastic wrap and lightly pound (with a skillet, mallet- whatever is handy and most stress-relieving!). Season the thinly pounded pork–now scallopine–with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

On a large dinner plate, pour the flour. Dredge the pork scallopine in the flour and pat off any excess.

In a large sautee pan over medium-high heat, pour a thin layer of olive oil. Test the oil with a sprinkling of flour, watching for it to sizzle, before adding the scallopine. Cook the pork for 2 minutes each side, or lightly brown. You will have to cook the pork in batches. As it finishes, remove it to a cooling rack or paper towel-lined plate.

Working with the same skillet, pour off all but one tablespoon of the oil. Add garlic and capers and sautee over medium heat. Next, add the red peppers and sautee briefly. Pour in the white wine (also known as deglazing) and reduce by half. Swirl in the butter to finish. Return the pork to the pan with the caper, red pepper mixture to heat through.

To serve, arrange the Squash & Zucchini Scapece on a plate and place the Pork Scallopine w pepper and caper sauce on top. Enjoy warm.