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She’s in Love

Okay, here I go: I am loving my Instant Pot. It is a rice cooker, a slow cooker, and a pressure cooker that can also make yogurt, porridge (like oatmeal), cheesecake or crème brulee, and, what most chefs feel is the most perfect thing of all, make a perfect egg.

I love that it does this in just one pot. If it could only sauté in the beginning and, at the end, make gravy, that would be enough for me.

I bought it in late October and stared at it for over a month. Me, in awe and inhibited, in the kitchen? Yes, but then I remembered my first hand calculator. I figured if others could do this, so could I.

This recipe uses the sauté function and the slow cooker, but it only slow cooks for about 3 hours or less. The dish is beyond delicious, and you can make it on the cooktop. And, yes, the ziti (or penne, if you prefer) goes into the tomatoes dry. When my friend Nancy Free, a fearsome cook, tasted the ziti, she asked what cheese I used. “None,” I said. “Ricotta?” she asked. “No cheese,” I said—but there is a half cup of cream, and you can always add mozzarella at the end, if you’d like.

My California daughter made it last weekend and her family loved it. You will, too.

Ziti with Italian Sausage

Adapted from How to Instant Pot

by Daniel Shumski

Workman Books, New York, 201

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound hot Italian sausage, removed from its casing

2 small or one medium onion, finely chopped

1 each red and yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded,

and chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, chopped by hand or masher

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

½ cup heavy whipping cream

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

16 ounces ziti or rigatoni

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Press Saute and use Saute, or Adjust button to select the middle temperature (“Normal”). Place oil in inner pot, wait about 2 minutes for the oil to heat, then add the sausage. Cook with lid off, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon to break up large pieces, until sausage is browned, about 5 minutes.

Add onions, bell peppers, garlic, and oregano and cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes, cream, and pepper and use wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom. Allow sauce to come to a simmer, about 3 minutes, and then simmer until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes more.

Add ziti. Stir pasta into the sauce, spreading the sauce evenly over the pasta and mixing with a large spoon to ensure pasta doesn’t clump together. Avoid pushing pasta to the bottom, where it might burn. Close and lock the lid. Set the valve to Venting. Attach condensation collector. Press Cancel, then press Slow Cook and use the Adjust button to select the highest temperature (“More”). Use the – or + button to set time to 3 hours.

When cooking time is finished, press Cancel and remove the lid. Stir the pasta gently, then divide the pasta, sausage, and sauce among 6 bowls. Top with mozzarella before serving hot.