The Librandi family farm in Calabria is set in the midst of a massive 375-acre olive orchard among gently rolling hills, the perfect location for a Francis Ford Coppola movie. They produce organic olive oil, a lot of it, and the materfamilias, Maria Luisa Ventre Librandi, offered to cook a few homestyle favorites in the modern kitchen that is part of the vineyard’s headquarters, a building designed for large-scale entertaining.

If you have never cooked with an Italian nonna, there are a few things you should know. They never follow recipes, they are always in charge, and there is only one way— their way—of cooking anything. Plus, they know their ingredients— as Librandi said, “Olive oil is like water to me.” A lifetime of experience flows out of their fingers, into the food, and then into the skillet or oven. It’s like watching Tiger Woods hit a three-wood— you just know he is going to whack it pin-high.

The charm of nonna cookery is the enduring simplicity and what generations of home cooks have discovered about perfecting a dish. One of those dishes was baked pork chops with flavored breading. At first, it appeared a bit like Shake ‘n Bake—throw breadcrumbs onto a pork chop and bake it—but it turned out to be one of my favorite recipes from the entire trip.

First off, you need to use thin loin chops, about ½ inch thick, so they cook through quickly before the topping overcooks. Given the lean quality of U.S. boneless pork loin, we needed to wet-brine the chops for about half an hour—otherwise, they turned out tough and dry.

Second, the secret of this recipe is the big flavor and crunch added by the breadcrumbs, which are jazzed up with a mixture of olive oil, capers, olives, parsley and Parmesan. We found that toasting the bread in the oven first was necessary to get the crispiest result. Finally, the chops are baked at a whopping 500°F for just 15 or so minutes—the high heat ensures a super-crisp topping.

Yes, this does feel a bit like a recipe from the 1950s, but we didn’t get our flavor out of a box of Stove Top Savory Herbs Stuffing Mix. We prepared it the old-fashioned way, the way of the nonna.

Christopher Kimball

Christopher Kimball is founder of Milk Street, which produces Milk Street Magazine, Milk Street Television on PBS, and the weekly public radio show Milk Street Radio. He founded Cook’s Magazine in 1980 and was host and executive producer of America’s Test Kitchen until 2016. Kimball is the author of several books, including "The Yellow Farmhouse" and "Fannie’s Last Supper."