Foodi Hearty Pasta Sauce
The hearty pasta sauce my 1st generation Italian-American grandmother made when I was growing up took all day to make. I decided to see if I could speed up the process using today's Ninja Foodi technology. Any electric pressure cooker (like an Instapot) should work the same. This helps reduce homemade sauce from an 8+ hour event down to under 2 hours.
This recipe makes a really large batch (max capacity in my 8qt Foodi Deluxe). I make a ton and can what we don't eat in 1qt mason jars for future dinners. If you have a smaller pressure cooker or a smaller family, you will want to reduce the recipe by half. It will still make enough for leftovers.
The optional corn starch is to thicken the sauce to desired consistency. Because it's been pressure cooked, the flavors are already infused really well, the ingredients all softened to perfection. No need to cook it down to meld the flavors, so we can thicken it instead. If you prefer a more soupy sauce, skip that part.
**If canning, because acid has been reduced and meat is in the sauce, you need to add some lemon juice to boost acid and only use a pressure canner specifically designed for low acid foods.**
Foodi Hearty Pasta Sauce
The hearty pasta sauce my 1st generation Italian-American grandmother made when I was growing up took all day to make. I decided to see if I could speed up the process using today's Ninja Foodi technology. Any electric pressure cooker (like an Instapot) should work the same. This helps reduce homemade sauce from an 8+ hour event down to under 2 hours.
This recipe makes a really large batch (max capacity in my 8qt Foodi Deluxe). I make a ton and can what we don't eat in 1qt mason jars for future dinners. If you have a smaller pressure cooker or a smaller family, you will want to reduce the recipe by half. It will still make enough for leftovers.
The optional corn starch is to thicken the sauce to desired consistency. Because it's been pressure cooked, the flavors are already infused really well, the ingredients all softened to perfection. No need to cook it down to meld the flavors, so we can thicken it instead. If you prefer a more soupy sauce, skip that part.
**If canning, because acid has been reduced and meat is in the sauce, you need to add some lemon juice to boost acid and only use a pressure canner specifically designed for low acid foods.**
Cooking Instructions
- 1
Insert the nanoceramic inner pot, no basket or rack. Turn the Foodi on saute, hi temp, and add ground beef, sausage, and pepperoni. Stir and break up meat as it cooks to crumble it. Cook until no pink (approx. 10 minutes)
- 2
Add onions, green pepper, and mushrooms. Cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to cook evenly.
- 3
Add half the basil and half the dried spices (oregano and Italian seasoning). Add minced garlic. Cook another 5 minutes until aromatic.
- 4
Carefully hand-crush the whole tomatoes into the pot one by one by pushing them through your fingers using your thumb. Do this slowly, or you'll squirt yourself with juice. Dump the remaining juice from the can into the pot.
- 5
Add the tomato sauce. Don't toss those empty cans yet.
- 6
Add the tomato paste. (Tip: If you use a can opener on both the top and bottom lids but don't remove one lid, you can push the paste down using the remaining lid and won't need to try to scrape it out. Just be sure to take the metal lids out of the sauce and toss them!)
- 7
Fill both the empty tomato sauce cans with water. Add the water to the pot being careful to leave at least one inch from the max line of the pot. If it's getting too high, use less water. (Ok to throw those cans away now. 😊)
- 8
Add the other half of the basil and dried spices. Add the entire jar of sun-dried tomatoes. Stir well.
- 9
Now the fun part. Add the baking soda. The sauce will bubble. That's the acid reducing in the sauce. (No one likes heartburn.)
- 10
Add the butter (cold is fine) to the top. Double check and make certain you haven't passed the max line of the Foodi pot.
- 11
Put the pressure cooker lid on the Foodi and set it to seal.
- 12
Switch the function from saute to pressure, lo temp, 30 minutes, and press start.
- 13
Natural release 10 minutes. Then quick release. The quick release will take about 5 minutes. (Tip: This is when I start to boil water on the stove for whatever pasta I'll use.)
- 14
Use a spoon and go just under the surface, lifting the oil off the top. Discard into a bowl. You won't remove all the oil. Just remove a decent amount. The oil adds flavor and mix right in with a good stir, so leaving some is good.
- 15
Stir well and add the grated parmesan cheese. Stop here if you don't want a thicker sauce.
- 16
Set Foodi back to saute but med temp. Rest a piece of foil or a simmer screen over the pot to avoid spatter. Cook 3 minutes to return to a boil. Don't try stirring yet because it will be bubbling quickly and you could burn yourself.
- 17
Drop saute temp down to lo-md. Stir here, making sure to stir bottom.
- 18
Add 2Tbsp cornstarch to 1/4 cup cold water in a cup and mix well. Pour into sauce and stir well. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until sauce thickens. Repeat this step every 5 minutes until your sauce is as thick as you'the like. (4Tbsp is the sweet mark for me.)
- 19
Serve over your choice of cooked pasta (e.g., spaghetti, rigatoni, rotini, etc) topped with grated Parmesan. Sides of salad and warm crusty garlic bread make it a perfect comfort food dinner.
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