Genovese sauce in an electric pressure cooker.
Why not? Let’s take advantage of the tools that technology has created to speed up and simplify cooking, making otherwise impossible dishes accessible to everyone, even those with little time. The “Genovese” is one of these, a typical dish of Neapolitan cuisine, so long to cook that we give up even before finishing reading the recipe. In reality, it’s not complicated to cook at all, you just need time to dedicate to it, but the Instant Pot really gives us a hand. Even for Genovese pasta, like any respectable traditional recipe, every family jealously guards its version. This is a fairly simple one that I prepared with the electric pressure cooker; it doesn’t save you much time, but this pot allows you to manage it as you like, you can even go out while it works. I know some Neapolitans may not appreciate my modern version, some consider ragù cooking a fantastic tradition, but please be indulgent, I am Lombard for generations!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Instant pot
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients to Prepare Genovese
- 1.1 lbs beef
- 5 golden onions (2.2 lbs)
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 leaf bay leaf
- to taste extra virgin olive oil (generous amount)
Tools
- 1 Instant pot
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Fork
- 1 Knife
Steps
Clean and wash the vegetables, onions, carrot, and celery. Slice the onions thinly and chop the celery and carrot.
Sauté the vegetables with a generous amount of oil using the Instant Pot’s Sauté mode, at low temperature (Less) for about 10 minutes. Add the meat and brown it. Be careful not to burn the vegetables.
Now add a bay leaf, mix everything well and close the lid. Set the cooking to Pressure Cook, Normal, High Pressure for 2 hours. Disable the Keep Warm button, because you will need to continue cooking for more time later.
After 2 hours of cooking, release the steam valve, open the lid of your Instant Pot, pour in a glass of white wine, give a good stir and set another hour of cooking on the same mode as before.
Finally, your Neapolitan Genovese is ready. Release the steam, open the lid, and stir vigorously with a fork, mashing the meat to make the sauce smoother and creamier. You can also add a knob of butter when dressing the pasta if you like.
My Advice
This sauce requires a very long cooking time that we don’t always have available. Even though the electric pressure cooker helps a lot, we can prepare it the day before and store it in the refrigerator, it will gain in flavor.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
What pasta should I use?
The Neapolitan tradition calls for broken ziti, but penne or tortiglioni are also fine.
