Tough chop found in empty carvery (5)
I believe the answer is:
chewy
'tough' is the definition.
('chewy' can be similar in meaning to 'tough')
'chop found in empty carvery' is the wordplay.
'chop' becomes 'hew' (I've seen this in other clues).
'found in' indicates putting letters inside.
'empty' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'carvery' with its centre removed is 'cy'.
'hew' inserted inside 'cy' is 'CHEWY'.
(Other definitions for chewy that I've seen before include "Hard to eat" , "Tough to masticate" , "Requiring mastication, like toffee say" , "Taking much mastication" , "With a texture like toffee" .)