How to Make Spaghetti and Meatballs in an Instant Pot
For me, Italian-American cuisine is the last word in comfort. Even my most disgusting mood can’t match the cheese carbs with red sauce , but I rarely have six hours to spend on a pot of Sunday sauce. Luckily, I hadn’t come across a low and slow paced dish that my Instant Pot couldn’t handle, so when I felt the cravings for spaghetti and meatballs, I knew what to do.
Well, sort of. Sometimes finding a reliable new Instant Pot recipe is more work than the dish itself. When I started researching Instant Pot spaghetti and meatballs, I expected a lot of difference, but not at all what I got. The biggest point of contention, naturally, was one thing that can be easily spoiled: how much water was added to the pot. Too much is a mess; too little and the pot will not crush. Worse, most recipes don’t mention adding salt along with water, which sounds like a great way to make a soft casserole of pasta. Completely indignant, I set to work.
The pasta in the pressure cooker needs to build up pressure faster than it browns on the bottom, so I came up with an easy way to make sure that the pressure in the pot is correct: a test run. Instead of throwing everything, lighting the car and praying, I double-check my proportions, bringing only the pasta to pressure with water and a little sauce. This leaves room for troubleshooting before the fragile raw meatballs step in. Once I know I have enough water to make the pasta and enough salt to flavor it, I can top the meatballs and leftover sauce and confidently press this function button. My method may be more complicated than tossing something in the pot and pressing a button, but it’s also a sure-fire route to spaghetti and meatballs within an hour – a compromise I’m more than willing to make.
Perfect Instant Spaghetti and Meatballs
The secret to this recipe is technique: if you press down on the pasta before adding the meatballs, you’ll be golden. I’m almost completely home-made here, but you can use ready-made meatballs and your favorite canned pasta sauce to eat even faster. If you want to sauté the meatballs, do so in a skillet on the stove while the sauce is simmering; The Instant Pot lacks the temperature control and surface area required for even browning.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 cup bread crumbs or stale bread cubes
- Up to 1 glass of whole milk
- 1.5-2 pounds of minced meat, at least a portion of which is pork (I used Giunta’s beef, pork and veal mix)
- 1 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
- 2 cloves of garlic, grated or very finely chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
For the sauce:
- 1 28 oz can of tomatoes, any variety
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt and sugar to taste
For pasta:
- 10-12 ounces of long dried pasta such as spaghetti, linguini, or bucatini (use less for a savory dish and more if you like noodles)
- Coating water
- Salt to taste (I needed a full teaspoon of table salt)
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and extra virgin olive oil for serving
instructions
Prepare meatballs first. Measure out the breadcrumbs into a small bowl and add enough milk to soak completely. The exact amount of milk you need will depend on the type of breadcrumbs you use, but you don’t want the breadcrumbs to float in the milk; you need milk-soaked bread crumbs.
While it’s soaking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and collect the remaining meatball ingredients. Place the minced meat in a large bowl, then pour everything else, including those bread crumbs, right inside. Use your hands to massage the mixture until it mixes evenly and retains its shape as it rolls into a ball. Pinch off 2-3 tablespoons of meat and roll into smooth balls, about 1 inch in diameter, transferring to a parchment-lined pan as you go. You should end up with 20 to 25 meatballs. Transfer to refrigerator to cool while you cook the sauce.
If using whole tomatoes, puree them with a blender. Set to “Normal” frying for quick cooking and pour in the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until slightly brown around the edges. Add red pepper flakes if using, then carefully add tomatoes and a couple of pinches of salt. Reduce heat to Low, bring to a simmer and simmer until butter emulsifies and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. This will take ten to thirty minutes, depending on the tomatoes; chopped or mashed potatoes take less time to boil than diced or whole.
When you’re happy with the texture of the sauce, season to taste with salt and a little sugar . (Sugar balances out the tinny or overly sour taste of the canned tomatoes – don’t be shy.) Put half the sauce in a separate bowl and set aside:
Break the pasta in half and add to the pan, stirring occasionally to distribute as evenly as possible. Pour in enough water to cover the noodles by an inch, season generously with salt, stir again, and close the lid. Adjust Manual for five minutes at high pressure and wait. If the pressure in the pot rises within five minutes, great; otherwise, you need more water. Relieve pressure immediately – remember this step is just a test – and remove the cap so you can add other ingredients.
If the noodles don’t heat up quickly enough, add another glass of water before placing the meatballs on top. Pour the other half of the sauce over the meatballs, add one last splash of water for good luck, and close the lid. This time, cook for a full five minutes at high pressure with manual release.
I like to serve the meatballs and spaghetti separately, with the meatballs and any additional sauce in a separate serving platter. You can also toss everything together directly into the pot and serve as it is, but be careful – you don’t want to crush the meatballs. Either way, I think you should serve as God intended: sprinkle with olive oil, lots of grated raw grains, and extremely strong garlic bread.