Sausage and Peppers in the Pressure Cooker

Serves 10 in about 1 hour. A pressure cooker recipe built around italian seasoning and tomato paste.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 -19 oz packages italian sausages
• 1 lg red onion sliced
• 4 lg cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ¼ cup chicken broth or water, divided
• 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon coarse salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 bell peppers, different colors, sliced lengthwise, about 1 inch wide
• 1 -14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 -15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 -6 oz can tomato paste

Method

1. Turn on the Sauté setting on your pressure cooker. When it is hot, add the oil, then 1 package of the sausages (5 per pkg). Brown them about 4 minutes on both sides and remove to a plate. Then repeat with the second package.
2. Tip in the onions and stir, cooking until they start to soften. Tip in 1/4 cup of the broth or water and use a wooden or silicone spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot to get up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
3. Tip in the garlic and sauté for a instant.
4. Stir in the remaining chicken broth or water, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Stir.
5. Tip in the sliced bell peppers. Do not stir.
6. Tip in the sausages back in on top of the bell peppers. Do not stir.
7. Tip in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and spoon the tomato paste on top. Do not stir.
8. Close the lid and cancel the Sauté setting. Seal the vent if your model pot does not do so automatically.
9. Press the Pressure Cook (or Manual) button or dial. Then use the +/- buttons to select 10 minutes. Choose High pressure. The pot will take several minutes to build pressure. Stay with the pot until it comes to pressure.
10. When the cook time is finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 4 minutes (4 instant Natural Release). Then manually release the remaining pressure.
11. When the pin in the lid drops down, carefully open the lid and remove the sausages to a plate. Cover lightly to keep warm.
12. Then gently stir the peppers to incorporate the tomato paste. This will thicken the sauce a bit and keep it from being too watery. The peppers will be very soft. This is intentional as they add a lot of flavor to the sauce when they break down.
13. Plate the sausage and peppers with a generous bit of the sauce over rice, or quinoa, pasta, or on a hoagie roll.

More instant pot ideas are in the instant pot collection.