Slow cooker Italian-style pork cutlets 

Slow cooking has got to be one of the easiest, most enjoyable ways to prepare a meal for your family.

All you need is a little time investment to prep your food, then simply throw your ingredients in the slow cooker, sit back and relax!

This slow cooker recipe is ideal for lazy Sundays when you want to feed your family something tasty and nutritious but simply don’t have time to put together an elaborate meal.

It’s packed full of traditional Italian ingredients like olive oil, tomatoes and olives, which all form part of the renowned Mediterranean diet. In fact, it’s more a way of life than a diet, making the most of seasonal, local resources that have many health benefits.

Olive oil and tomatoes, for example, are known to be plentiful in antioxidants, which help protect the body’s cells from damage and disease.

Another thing to love about this recipe is that there are very few ingredients — we’re all for anything that makes busy lives simpler!

Traditionally, pork cutlets would be simmered in stock on the stovetop for an extended period of time to ensure they were tender and full of flavour.

Using a slow cooker is essentially a slightly modern twist on a classic cooking method. For this recipe, all you need to do is brown the chops for a few minutes before transferring them to your slow cooker with the other ingredients and letting them simmer away for a couple of hours — nothing could be simpler!

Choose fresh and healthy ingredients

The cornerstone of Italian cooking is choosing the freshest ingredients to make up your dish.

And because Italian cuisine is simple, using only a handful of items, it really is the quality that counts.

Starting with your pork chops, we recommend that you go for free-range pork so you know you’re getting not only the best quality but also the most ethical type of meat.

At Church Street Butcher, we check out the quality and welfare standards of all our suppliers so that we know, hand on heart, that we are only serving our customers with the best.

The other ingredients are simple. You’ll need a few store cupboard staples — flour, olive oil, butter, chicken stock (cubes or fresh if you have it) and canned tomatoes, then an onion, thyme and olives.

This combination of ingredients makes for an authentic Italian taste that all the family will enjoy.

And to serve…

Creamy mashed potato is the classic side dish to serve with this recipe.

You might want to add in a few extra veggies like honey-glazed carrots or sauteed spinach to boost your five a day — there’s no limit on getting your vegetable fix!

Church Street, your local free-range butcher

There’s no doubt that choosing free-range is the healthiest and most ethical way to eat meat.

That’s what we believe in here at Church Street Butcher, your best butcher in Melbourne for free-range pork, lamb, chicken and grass-fed beef.

Pop into our store in Brighton for a friendly service and the best quality free-range meat in the area.

We also sell online, so we’re only a few clicks away!

So get your shopping list together and order your essential ingredients for the perfect lazy weekend family meal!