Pork Florentine Recipe [Instant Pot – VIDEO]

A classic with a twist. “Florentine” is a term that’s used in the culinary world as a dish involving spinach and cream sauce. A popular dish is Chicken Florentine but this time, I decided to prepare a twist using pork. This Pork Florentine has a rich cream sauce made with fresh spinach, onion, garlic, chicken broth, cream, a touch of nutmeg and a healthy dose of Parmesan cheese. The velvety sauce enrobes seasoned pork chops in such a perfect way that you may not ever want the chicken version ever again.

I’m a big fan of America’s Test Kitchen and I was going through their Simple Weeknight Favorites cookbook. This recipe is from that book and I tweaked the recipe just a little to cook it in the Instant Pot (with no pressure cooking needed) as well as adapted it as a gluten free version.

To make this gluten free, I substituted the all purpose flour with a gluten free flour blend (but you can just use all purpose flour if you’re not GF). This dish was perfect with mashed potatoes and extra sauce in place of gravy…

Pork Florentine Recipe

recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

Pork Florentine Recipe Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds baby spinach
• 1 1/2 pounds pork chops (about 4-6)
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour (or GF flour blend)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Pork Florentine Recipe Instructions

1. Plug in the IP with insert set in place. Press SAUTE on the IP and heat 1 tablespoon of oil.
2. Add the spinach in four batches to the IP and cook down until all the spinach is wilted and decreased in volume by half. Transfer the spinach to a colander and press through any excess liquid. Place spinach onto a cutting board and coarsely chop. Return the chopped spinach to the colander and press through any excess liquid again; set aside.
3. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In the now empty IP, heat 1-2 tablespoons oil; sauté the seasoned pork chops in batches and brown on each side. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions have softened. Then add chicken broth to the IP.
4. Secure the lid of the IP and ensure the valve is set to SEALING. Press MANUAL and adjust the time to 10 minutes on HIGH pressure. The display will reflect ON while the IP comes to pressure. Allow a few minutes for your IP to come to pressure. Once at pressure, the display will reflect 10 (the number of minutes you initially set) and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
5. When the IP beeps after pressure cooking for 10 minutes, allow your IP to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes. While naturally releasing pressure (also known as NPR or NR), the display will reflect numbers counting up from 1. The numbers indicate how many minutes the IP has stopped cooking since it beeped (or how many minutes it has been naturally releasing pressure).  No need to touch your IP while it naturally releases pressure. 
6. When the display reflects L10:00 (which is 10 minutes since the IP has beeped), turn the setting on top of your IP to VENTING. Doing so allows the IP to quickly release any remaining pressure (also known as QPR or QR). I use a wooden spoon to carefully turn the setting to avoid close contact with the potential steam. You may also want to turn your IP away from cabinets to allow the released steam to escape freely. The pin at the top of your IP will drop when all pressure has been released and it’s safe to open.
7. Open up your IP when the pin has dropped (allow a few minutes for this to happen). The IP will automatically default to the WARM setting. Using tongs, transfer chops to a platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 10 minutes (internal temperature will climb to 165 degrees). 
8. Press SAUTE and allow liquid to reduce by half. Whisk in flour and garlic powder. Slowly add heavy cream, stirring constantly. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer until sauce thickens up. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup Parmesan and reserved spinach to create the sauce. To serve: plate the pork and top with the Parmesan spinach sauce.