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01
Gather all the ingredients.
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02
Cut carrot, celery, and onion into small, roughly equal-size chunks. If you don’t have a food processor, simply mince them by hand.
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03
Put the vegetables m in the food processor and pulse a few times until desired consistency is reached. If a few pieces are too large, do not continue with food processor to get them chopped as you will over-chop the rest. Just mince those remaining pieces by hand. Set aside.
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04
Mince the garlic. Brush off any dirt and debris from mushrooms and slice them. Alternatively, you can lightly rinse the mushrooms with cool water and pat dry with paper towels, but do not soak the mushrooms (they absorb water like sponge).
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05
Press the “Sauté” button on your Instant Pot and heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil.
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06
Add minced garlic and 1 bay leaf and stir until fragrant.
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07
Add the minced vegetables and sauté until onion is tender.
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08
Add the meat and mix with the rest of ingredients in the pot.
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09
Add 1/3 cup (80 ml) red wine and stir, scraping the juicy bits stuck to the bottom and side of the pot and evaporate the alcohol completely, about 5-7 minutes.
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10
Add 1 28-oz (800 ml) whole tomatoes (crushed before adding) or crushed tomatoes and 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable broth.
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11
Add sliced mushrooms, 2 tsp. dried oregano, and 2 tsp. dried basil on top.
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12
Cover and lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Make sure the steam release handle points at “sealing” and not “venting”. Press the “Keep Warm/Cancel” button on the Instant Pot to stop “sauté” mode. Press the “manual” button to switch to the pressure cooking mode. Press the “minus” button to change the cooking time to 20 minutes.
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13
If you’re using a stove-top pressure cooker, you won’t have any buttons to press. Just cook on high heat until high pressure is reached. Then reduce the heat to low but maintain high pressure for about 20 minutes.
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14
When it is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to the “Keep Warm” mode. You have 2 options to release the pressure: 1) slide the steam release handle to the "Venting" position to let out steam until the float valve drops down, OR 2) let the pressure release naturally, about 15-20 mins.
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15
I usually start cooking pasta and let the pressure cooker de-pressurizing naturally. Boil a large pot of water (4-5 QT), add 2 Tbsp. kosher salt (Add 4 Tbsp. if you really want to season pasta well (read here), and boil your choice of pasta. Cook according to the package instruction and drain the pasta.
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16
After de-pressurizing is completed, unlock the lid and add 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter and freshly ground black pepper. Taste the spaghetti sauce, and if necessary, season with kosher salt (I added about 2 tsp here). If the sauce is too thin or “soupy”, turn on “Saute” mode and reduce the sauce to the consistency your like (I did not need to do that).
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17
Finely mince fresh parsley. Serve the spaghetti sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
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18
To freeze bolognese sauce (it's good for 1 month), I recommend packing the sauce in individual portions so you can enjoy later on. It's great emergency food if you're really behind on prepping a meal. Thaw in the fridge overnight and re-heat in a pot over very low heat on the stovetop to enjoy.