This complete meal of Lemon Pepper Pork with Grilled Veg Feta Couscous is made from scratch and on the table in 15 minutes. Don’t believe me? Try it and see!
Have you ever tried to make one of Jamie Oliver’s 15 minute meals? I did. I made Ricotta Fritters with Tomato Sauce and Zucchini Salad. I really tried to make it in 15 minutes. I even followed his “rules”, where you start with all the ingredients on the counter, washed and ready to go, the pan on the stove on high heat and a full kettle of boiled water.
It took me just over 20 minutes to get on the table so not bad on timing. But I was a stressed out wreck. Red in the face, sweating and the kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off in it.
Mind you, dinner was delicious. But it took almost as much time to cook as it did to clean up afterwards!
Just so you know, I am a huge fan of Jamie Oliver. I think he’s been instrumental in the “food movement” and inspiring people to cook more at home and use less processed ingredients. And I love a lot of his recipes.
So my 15 Minute Meals are not like Jamie’s. They are totally do-able and stress free, and you don’t need to use every appliance in your kitchen to make them!
This Lemon Pepper Pork is a typical midweek meal for me – simple but tasty (of course!). It doesn’t require any preparation in advance and is a fresh meal without any cream or canned soup in it, but is super fast to make. I also love that it’s one of those dishes where you can just “throw it all on the BBQ” – handy for summer nights! But I’ve provided directions to make this on the stovetop which is how I usually make it.
This meal has a few shortcuts that makes it so fast to make.
1. Lemon Pepper seasoning – you can get this from the herbs & spice section of any supermarket nowadays and it costs the same as other herbs (just over $1 at my local supermarket). I used to think it was just lemon + pepper. Then I used it once to season couscous, adding stock and other flavours and the flavour of the couscous was too strong because I didn’t realise the Lemon Pepper seasoning had all sorts of other flavouring in it, including salt, onion, garlic, parsley and a heap of other flavourings. So a little sprinkle of Lemon Pepper is like adding 10 different herbs and spices;
2. Couscous – for a fast meal, you can’t beat couscous to add bulk and carbs. You simply combine equal quantities of hot liquid and couscous in a bowl, cover and set aside for a few minutes. Couscous lends itself to adding all sorts of flavours. Being such small grains, it’s great for soaking up thick casserole sauces (like tagines) as well as lightly dressing with salad dressing; and
3. Feta – this is my secret cost conscious way of adding a punch of flavour to all sorts of things, from frittatas to salads, crumbled over cooked meats, in pastries, thick soups and even in stuffings. The reason I love feta so much is that it is so cheap and yet because the flavour is quite sharp and salty, you only need a little bit to add a whole heap of flavour to a dish. I also love its crumbly texture which means you don’t need to cut it.
I hope you enjoy my Lemon Pepper Pork! Just leave a comment below if you have any questions.
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Lemon Pepper Pork
Ingredients
- 2 pork cutlets , at room temperature (200g/7oz each, bone in) (see notes)
- 1 tbsp lemon pepper (see notes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil , separated
- 2 zucchinis , sliced
- 1 small red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced
- 1 small red onion (spanish onion), sliced
- 1/2 small lemon
- 1/4 cup mint leaves (loosely packed)
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 1/2 cup boiling water (or chicken or vegetable stock/broth)
- 50 g / 1.5 oz g / 1.5 oz feta cheese
- Salt and pepper
- Lemon wedges or cheeks , to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Combine couscous and boiling water in a bowl, cover with cling wrap and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle lemon pepper on both sides of each cutlet and pat to make it stick.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in fry pan over high heat. Place pork in fry pan and cook the first side for 2 minutes and the second side for 1 1/2 minutes or until cooked to your liking. I like mine medium rare. Remember the pork will continue to cook while resting.
- Remove pork from the fry pan onto a plate, cover loosely with foil and set aside to rest.
- Heat remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in the fry pan still on high heat. Add onion and capsicum and sauté for 1 minute, then add the zucchini. Stir and cook the vegetables until charred and just cooked through. Remove pan from heat.
- Fluff up the couscous with a fork. Add the vegetables and mint leaves. Squeeze over a drizzle of lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine.
- Divide couscous between plates, scatter over feta cheese. Top with pork cutlet and drizzle over resting juices. Serve with lemon cheeks or wedges on the side, if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
So delicious! Quick, easy, healthy. I added a few cherry tomatoes in at the end. I’ll be making this one again. Thanks.
Thanks Nagi!
This has become a staple on my cooking list. It is so versatile – I’ve found you can use any meat with any dry rub or marinade. So quick and delicious.
Delicious!
Restaurant qualitymeal.
I made it with spring onion instead of red onion.
A family winner, will make this again. Simple, easy, and tasty. I Will make next time I entertain
Husband and I loved it. Delicious, really light but full of flavor.
That’s so great to hear!! Thanks so much for letting me know 🙂 N x
Oh this was not just a 6, but over the fence and out!!! What a winner! So juicy and the piquancy of the lemon was like we had never tasted before.
Would cost a fortune in a restaurant.
So glad we found this site!
I’m so happy to hear you both enjoyed this!! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. N x ❤️
I made this baby last night on the BBQ (still waiting for 8month old stove to be replaced).
the pork chops were really, really tasty. I patted the chops with lemony olive oil before adding lemon pepper and left for about 10mins for the flavours to intense.
Wow, the veges were a highlight for me, the colours and flavours were perfect. I also whacked in some corn cobs and since MOTH really enjoys beetroot, I cubed a few slices and this added another flavour that seriously worked well.
The meal was so quick to prepare and cook and gosh, the washing up was next to nothing.
We really enjoyed this one (as usual), thanks Nagi.
Just made this last night. I am not a cook so thanks for an easy, affordale, healthy delicious recipe.
Thank you Stacy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And no putting yourself down!! The fact that you made this rather than ordering take out already puts you miles ahead of the pack 🙂
Nagi! New to your blog as so glad I swung by!!!! This looks fabtastic! I too love Jaimie 😉 now if you will excuse me I’m off to stalk the rest of your site!
Thanks for dropping by Mila!
This is a gorgeous meal! And 15 minutes…I am seriously impressed! Pinning and sharing – can’t wait to try it! If you have a free moment Thursday night, I would love it if you would link it up with us at Foodie Fridays (we go live at 9 pm EST)…everyone is looking for meals that take less time these days! Plus this is so healthy!
Hi Michelle, thanks for your kind words! Link party sounds great – I’ll check it out!
I seriously do not cook enough pork, thanks for reminding me how delicious it is Nagi. Definitely need to get some and make this recipe asap!
Thanks Thalia! Appreciate you dropping by.
How incredible that this is ready in less than 15 minutes! These pictures look incredible too, wonderful recipe!
Thanks Danielle!
That plate looks extremely fresh and beautiful! The combination of flavors is perfect, and it sounds like a real 15 minute meal, with the great shortcuts you provided 🙂 Rushing to cook a meal in 15 minutes and then having to wash many pans and dishes and also using most of your kitchen appliances is not fun 🙂
Thanks Mira! So true, fast meals should be easy to prepare AND for washing up!!