Pressure Cooker Bolognese

Last Updated on July 27, 2022

How to Batch Cook Bolognese Sauce in a Pressure Cooker

How are you dealing with the cost of living squeeze? I’m planning to make much more use of my electric pressure cooker this year to batch cook recipes like this bolognese for the freezer. While I intend to eat less meat, I’m not planning to give it up – rather I will make sure that what I buy is ethically produced and top quality. Swaledale fit the bill perfectly – they are a proper traditional butcher that has been established since 2010 and has built partnerships with trusted farmers in Yorkshire to make sure that all the meat they sell is of superb quality. Buying meat from a proper butcher means the key ingredients I am using will be packed with flavour and properly prepared so that my recipes just work.  And, surprisingly, the prices are really not very different to those you’ll find in a top-quality supermarket. What you will get though is an intensity of flavour that comes from proper ageing and butchery, from buying top quality carcasses and from sourcing native rare breed meat.

With a budget of £50 I went about seeing what I could get for my money.  The meat from Swaledale is never pre-frozen, so you can cook it fresh or freeze it yourself and that allowed me to have a few indulgences.

I bought two pork tenderloins (each one will feed 2-3 people), a sirloin steak pack with two good-sized steaks, a pack of bacon lardons and some dry cured back bacon rashers, 540g of minced lamb and the same of minced beef.  The bill for my shopping list at the time of purchase came to just over £50 but, from it I know I will be able to make around 25 portions of food if I cook carefully.  That’s despite the indulgence of the sirloin steak – worth every penny – which took up £20 of my budget! What was particularly noticeable was that the meat didn’t shrink when I cooked it. And of course it was utterly delicious

I’m still working on a recipe for the tenderloin but will share it in the next few weeks. Pork tenderloin is a wonderful and underused cut of meat that is generally very good value for money.

The lamb is frozen and waiting for a little inspiration (I’m really tempted to make spicy lamb meatballs).  The bacon lardons have been divided into smaller packs – I used 100g as part of the bolognese sauce, but still have 3 x 50g packs to use in pasta sauces.  And, the back bacon is saved for special bacon sandwiches!  The beef mince and the bacon lardons formed the basis of one of my favourite batch cooking recipes, this time made in the instant pot.  And, I’m thrilled with the result. 

Making a good bolognese sauce usually means long, slow cooking.  But, with an instant pot or similar pressure cooker, you can cut the cooking time down to about 15 minutes.  Add 5 minutes for the pot to reach the correct pressure and then another 5 minutes at the end to release the pressure and your sauce can be ready in half an hour or so from start to finish.  An electric pressure cooker uses about a quarter of the electricity of powering up your oven too. 

Using the pack of mince from Swaledale and 100g of bacon lardons made enough bolognese sauce for eight portions. Just like cooking the steak, I found my meat didn’t shrink when I was browning it and the mixture stayed quite dry with no watery liquid in the bottom of the pan.  So, I suspect the quality of meat countered the cost.  Certainly, the bolognese was beautifully tender and really well flavoured. 

I make my bolognese with a soffrito of celery, onion and carrot which also helps to ‘stretch’ the meat.  I sometimes add chicken liver too and always use a can of good quality chopped tomatoes, a handful of fresh oregano or a pinch of dried and a good glug of wine.  For around 500g of meat, I wouldn’t use less than a third of a bottle of wine (250ml).  If for some reason you prefer not to use wine, then I’d suggest using stock – either homemade or a good quality stock cube. But, I like the excuse to open a bottle of wine…after all the cook gets to drink the rest.

Here’s a printable version of the pressure cooker bolognese sauce for you to make at home.  And if you’d like to order a similar selection of meat, I can heartily recommend Swaledale online butchers.

Print

Pressure cooker bolognese sauce

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

 

An easy recipe for bolognese sauce to make in an electric pressure cooker such as an instant pot or Fast Slow by Heston.

Cuisine: European

Keyword: bolognese, mince

Servings: 8

Calories: 280 kcal

Author: Fiona Maclean

Ingredients

• 550 grams good quality minced beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium brown onions
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 100 grams bacon lardons
• 250 millilitres robust red wine
• 1 pinch dried oregano or a handful of fresh
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Chop the onion, celery and carrot into small dice (about 1/4 cm maximum)

2. Heat half the oil in the pressure cooker on saute function

3. With the temperature set as low as possible, soften the vegetables for 5 minutes or so, stirring regularly

4. Remove from the pan and add the mince and more oil if necessary. Brown in batches if necessary over a medium heat

5. Remove from pan and add the bacon lardons. Seal over a medium heat before returning the mince and vegetables to the pan

6. Add the tomatoes, wine and oregano. Season well with salt and pepper and stir well

7. Put the lid on the pressure cooker, set the pressure to high and timer to 15 minutes

8. Allow to cook, then release the steam naturally

9. If you like, reduce the mixture by using the saute function to boil off some of the liquid

10. Check and adjust seasoning

11. Cool and freeze in portion sizes to suit your family, store in the fridge or use immediately. The mixture will keep in the fridge for a few day or in the freezer for 3 months

12. Serve with pasta and parmesan cheese

Nutrition Facts

Pressure cooker bolognese sauce

Amount Per Serving

Calories 280

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

While I didn’t use my Penfolds wine in the Bolognese, it was the perfect pairing for the rich sauce that resulted from using a top-quality butcher’s beef mince.   Penfolds Max’s Shiraz Cabernet 2019 is a tribute to their former chief winemaker, Max Schubert. It’s a special bottle of wine, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz that is rich and fruity, perfect for drinking now. There are various pop-ups where you can taste this wine and the sister Chardonnay – and I can promise it’s one you’ll love.  If you want to buy some, it’s available from most major supermarkets including Waitrose, Ocado, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Booths with an RRP of £20.  Find out more about the Penfolds Max range here