One dish Puttanesca pasta in Instant Pot

[pepperhead212]

That recent post about pasta in the Instant pot made me think of this one.
I made another one of those one dish pastas in the Instant Pot - this time, a version of puttanesca sauce, this time made with some of my last cherry tomatoes of the season, halving a little over a quart of them. I sort of crossed one recipe using this many cherry tomatoes, with garlic and herbs, and a puttanesca sauce, using canned sauce. Turned out great, and definitely something I will do again!

BTW, this dish doesn't need anymore salt added! And nobody on a low salt diet could eat this.

My favorite capers are the salted ones - soaked at least an hour, and rinsed. I'm sure the pickled kind would work - just rinsed, and blotted dry. And I used that olive paste just because it was leftover in the fridge, and it added a lot of flavor.

Puttanesca pasta in Instant Pot

4 tb EVOO
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)
3/4 c pitted and chopped kalamata olives
3 tb kalamata paste (or another 1/4 c olives)
1/2 c salted capers, soaked, and chopped
2 tb anchovies, or to taste, chopped
1 qt cherry tomatoes, halved, or quartered, if larger
3 c water
1 lb linguine, or regular spaghetti, broken in half
At least 1/2 c chopped fresh basil
Grated reggiano for serving

Heat the olive oil, garlic, and hot pepper flakes in the IP on sauté/high, stirring about a minute. Add the chopped olives, olive paste (if used), capers, and anchovies, and stir frequently about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir to coat everything, add 3 c water, mix well, and hit STOP. Add the pasta, mix well, to coat with the water, then put the cover on, seal, and set to MANUAL 3 min. After the 3 min is up, hit stop, release the pressure manually, then remove lid. Set to sauté/high again, and toss the pasta, to separate any that may have stuck, and to evaporate the excess water. Stir and toss about 3 minutes, or until boiled off enough, then remove pot from the base, and set it on the stove, or another spot. Stir in the basil, let it sit a couple of minutes, then serve, with the reggiano, or other grated cheese.
garlic and hot pepper flakes, ready to cook in olive oil, for the puttanesca. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Olives, capers, and anchovies, chopped up for the puttanesca. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Over a quart of fresh cherry tomatoes, halved for the puttanesca. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Linguine, halved and added to the puttanesca mix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The puttanesca, after the linguine was pushed under the water, and ready to pressure cook by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished puttanesca, after tossing the linguine a few minutes, to absorb the excess liquid, then the basil is added last. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I didn't even take a photo of the bowl I ate of this - I couldn't wait to eat it, and I think my friend was ready for his second bowl when I sat down! I could have eaten more, but I refrained, not that the serving was small, by any means.

 

[Badjak]

Looks very tasty.
For some reason or another, I never think of pressure cooker & pasta.
Just to satisfy my curiosity:
With a stove top pressure cooker, would you still cook the pasta under pressure for 3 minutes and quick release? Or bring to pressure, turn off and let release naturally?

And another question: could you make it as a "normal" one pot dish? Ir do you need the pressure to cook the pasta due to salt & acidity in the sauce?

 

[pepperhead212]

@Badjak I never thought of making pasta in a pressure cooker, either, until I saw a number of recipes in a Milk Street book for the Instant Pot - Fast and Slow, which basically showed how to make a lot of recipes using either the pressure cooker, or the slow cooker mode; however, they noted that the slow cooker mode would not work with pasta, as it would turn to mush. However, it might work with some things at regular temp, though you might have to cook some things for longer, before adding some water, and the pasta, then simmering until the pasta is done. I noticed a recipe almost identical to one that they had previously posted, in which they cooked some garlic, sage, and cherry tomatoes, in a sauté pan for 30-40 min, until they had softened, and much of the moisture had evaporated, then the pasta was cooked separately, and tossed with the tomatoes, with some extra sage, and reggiano. The pressure cooker recipe just called for the garlic cooked briefly, then the sage and tomatoes added, with 3 c water, and the pasta, then cooked 3 min, and pressure released. I don't think letting the pressure release naturally would work, as the pasta would probably be overcooked. Plus, it had to be cooked briefly afterwards, to finish cooking the pasta, and cooking down the liquid.

You could probably cook something like this in a casserole or saucepan, by cooking whatever the dish would be, minus 10 or 15 minutes, and adding the pasta and some water, making sure the pasta is submerged. Then simmer until the pasta is done, stirring occasionally.

I usually use pasta like spirals, bow ties, ditalini, or one of those types, as they mix up better with the sauces.

 

[jennyema]

Make sure you deglaze the pot after sautéing