instant pot bolognese

serves 6

a couple of umami-boosting tips:

if you have a spare parmesan rind hanging around, add it to the pot when you pour in not just pasta sauce. For the final seasoning, you can add a dash of soy sauce instead of salt to make things even more savory, if you like.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground pork or beef (or mixture of the two)

2 medium carrots, peeled or scrubbed, and roughly chopped

1 jar not just pasta sauce

¼ cup whole milk

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup basil, roughly chopped

kosher salt and black pepper 

1 pound dried pasta (cooked according to package instructions) and grated parmesan, to serve.

*optional dash of soy sauce.

1. set the instant pot to sauté setting and heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the ground meat and ½ teaspoon salt and brown meat, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes.

2. add carrots, not just pasta sauce, milk and nutmeg. switch the setting to manual, cover instant pot and set to cook 15 minutes at high pressure.

4. Do a natural release or quick release – if the sauce is too thin, cook on sauté setting for a couple of minutes. off heat stir in basil and season to taste with salt (or a dash of soy sauce) and black pepper.

**When you boil your pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy water. toss pasta with the bolognese in a nonstick skillet, thinning with pasta water as needed.