Pork Chops with Spaghetti Fresh Spinach and Tomatoes

Share a pork chop - you'll make friends.  Especially if you slurp a few spaghetti noodles like the lovers in Disney's 101 Dalmatians!
2-3 1-inch thick pork chops
1/2 lb spaghetti
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
2 small fresh ripe tomatoes, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 large shallot (or 1/4 cup onion) finely diced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped (or 1/4 tsp dried)
1/4 cup grated or shaved Romano or Pargmagiana cheese

Preheat oven to 400F. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

Meanwhile, heat a slug of olive oil in a large skillet and brown the chops well on both sides. Salt and pepper generously and dress with half the thyme.

Remove chops to a baking pan and place in oven. I insert a digital thermometer into the meaty center of one of the chops to check for doneness by internal temperature.

While the chops cook, cook the spaghetti until al dente. While the spaghetti cooks, sauté the shallot in the pan used to brown the chops. After about 3-5 minutes, add the garlic and the remaining thyme. When the spaghetti is done, drain well and toss on the skillet with the shallots. Add a bit of olive oil of necessary, to coat the pasta lightly. Add the spinach leaves and fold carefully to incorporate the, into the simmering pasta.

Remove the chops from the oven when the internal temperature has reached 140F (about 10-12 minutes in the oven), cover with foil. When most of the spinach leaves in the spaghetti have begun to wilt, add the tomatoes, and toss to heat them through. Keep warm.

After the chops have set for 5-8 minutes, toss pasta with the cheese and nestle the chops into the spaghetti, either in the skillet or after transferring spaghetti to a serving platter.
Sprinkle with parsley and serve. If the chops are more than one serving each, you can slice the chops into serving portions before nestling into the spaghetti.

Serves 4.