Pressure Cooker Meat Sauce Recipe

When I got married, my mother-in-law gave us a pressure cooker as a wedding gift.  It looked completely foreign and frankly a little bit scary.  Cooking with heat and pressure and my novice ability in the kitchen was surely a recipe for disaster. But, she assured me that in time, it would become my best friend…and she was right!  Making incredibly tasty meals in a matter of minutes is very appealing given my lack of available time.  So, I thought I would share an easy recipe for delicious meatsauce and spaghetti made entirely in our now very worn pressure cooker.

What you Need:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 diced green pepper
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup water
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. sweet basil
• 1/4 tsp. thyme
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 3 drops Tabasco sauce

How to Make It:

Brown ground beef and drain.  Add all ingredients (except tomato paste).  Close cover and cook on medium heat for 8 minutes after the pressure cooker regulator starts rocking.  Remove cooker from heat and cool under cold water for 30 seconds to one minute.  When pressure decreases, open cooker and add tomato paste.  Simmer uncovered to desired thickness.

Serves 6.

We love making this recipe because it is a great way to sneak extra vegetables and fiber into the diet of my two picky eaters.  One way is to use the new Piccolini Rich in Fiber-White pasta.  It looks and tastes just like regular pasta but is packed with three times the fiber and provides 30% of your daily whole grains per serving!  You can find Piccolini in mini penne, mini rotini and mini conchigle-shells.  Get more great tips by following Piccolini on Twitter!

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Barilla Piccolini.  All opinions remain 100% mine.