Instant Pot Bolognese
Inspired by: StripedSpatula
My wonderful husband got me an Instant Pot last year, I unboxed it and put it away to try soon. As a cookbook lover I picked up an ‘Instant Pot Miracle’ cookbook and picked out a few recipes to try … and here we are over a year later. Well I dusted off the Instant Pot and found this awesome Bolognese recipe online, we will tackle the cookbook another time, and my Instant Pot journey was started! I am a huge fan of Bolognese and thought it was a pretty foolproof recipe to try. Off to Wegmans to collect the needed ingredients, as well as taco ingredients for my daughter who is NOT a fan of Bolognese – silly girl!!! A few hours later I had a wonderful sauce completed and a taco filled 17 year old. There was quite a bit of ‘pre’ pressure cooking steps so it wasn’t as ‘instant’ as I would have liked but absolutely accomplished in much less time than a traditional recipe.
Instant Pot Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 4 ounces diced pancetta
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 28 ounces San Marzano tomatoes crushed, I purchased whole and ‘crushed’ myself as crushed were unavailable
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup italian parsley divided into 2 – 1/4 cup servings
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- cooked pasta – a hearty pasta like pappardelle, tagliatelle or fettuccine
- grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Start your Instant Pot on the Saute setting and set the temperature to ‘more’ – heat your olive oil. Add the onions, carrots and celery and saute about 8-10 minutes until softened and lightly browned.
- Add the pancetta and saute about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, pork, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Continue to saute, breaking up the meat until browned and the juices have mostly evaporated.
- Add garlic and tomato paste and saute for about 1 minute. Add the red wine and deglaze the pan — scraping all the yummy brown bits from the bottom of the pan — Simmer for about 3 minutes to allow the wine to evaporate.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes, water and 1/4 cup parsley and bring that to a simmer – not quite boiling.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and twist to close. Set the Pot to Pressure Cook. The pressure setting to High and the timer for 20 minutes.
- Carefully use the quick release and remove the lid when the float drops.
- Put the pot back to the Saute setting and set the temperature to ‘less’. Simmer uncovered for 5-15 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce is the consistency you desire.
- Stir in the heavy cream ad the remaining parsley. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve over the cooked pasta of your choice ad top with a generous helping of grated cheese.
Notes
- Store in airtight container for 3-4 days in refrigerator or 3-4 months in freezer.
- Other tomato varieties packed in ‘juice’ will result in a thinner less flavorful sauce then any tomatoes packed in ‘puree’.
- This recipe was completed in the Instant Pot 3 Quart Mini.