Pork Scallopini with Dill Pesto and Chickpeas

Totally unexpected.

Dill weed pesto = my new jam. I had no idea the glory that would unfold within the lining of my mouth when I placed but a single fingertip of this inside it. And it was such a random, last minute decision, combining toasted pecans with garlic, cheese, olive oil and dill weed. AND, you get to say dill weed as much as you want. This pesto is nothing short of meant for me.

Wanna know something else totally unexpected? The bumble bee with 4-inch fangs and a machete that flew through my open back door yesterday, leaving me running around my living room like an insano, screaming all bloody get out murder with Windex in one hand and a phone book in the other. But that’s for me to work out on my own.

Something else totally unexpected; the beauty and wonder of blanketing cool chickpeas with the silky dill weed pesto. I want to say “dill-icious” but I made that joke on Instagram already and I don’t want you to paper cut my funny bone. I’m kind of weird about my funny bone. But here’s something I’m not weird about. Piling 13 buckets of dill weed pesto chickpeas on top of thinly sliced and seared pork. Noooot weird about that at all.

In fact, if this is weird and unexpected, I want to be very much not weird and expected.

Wait, what?

Dill weed!

Pork Scallopini with Dill Pesto and Chickpeas:

What it took for 3-4:

* .8 oz package fresh dill weed
* 1 large clove garlic
* 1/4 cup freshly ground parmesan cheese
* 1/4 cup lightly toasted pecans
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (maybe a little more)
* 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil (for the pork)
* 1 (14.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of any excess fat
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small food processor, combine the dill weed (save a little for garnish!), garlic, cheese, pecans, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Blitz until smooth and wonderful. Taste it. Did you ever know such a taste could exist?

Dump the chickpeas into a bowl and stir the pesto into it.

Take your pork and slice it into 1-inch pieces. Then place the slices between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them out thinly. That felt good, didn’t it?

In a shallow dish, combine the flour with another good pinch of salt and pepper. Dredge the thin pork slices through the flour, shaking off any excess.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Place as many pork slices as you can in the pan and sear on both sides until browned and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Continue with the rest of the pork (adding more oil to the pan if needed) until all of it is cooked.

Now, I served this family-style on a platter, dumping the dilly chickpeas over the pork slices and basically going to town.

Inhale immediately.