serves 4 to 6
Active time: 35 minutes – Start to finish: 1hr
This Instant Pot pasta recipe for Pasta All’Amatriciana is from Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Fast and Slow. It’s the very first pasta dish I have ever made in an Instant Pot. Given that so far everything I’ve made from any of Christopher’s cookbooks has been amaaazing, I was confident that it would be good, but had some doubts about how the pasta would hold up given my previous Instant Pot experience with onions. It was an absolutely perfect al dente; I can’t wait to try another Milk Street’s Instant Pot pasta recipe!
Ingredients
- 3 TBL extra-virgin olive oil, divided (1 TBL used initially for the pancetta, 2 TBL used at the very end for finishing)
- 3 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped ← I doubled this the 2nd time
- 10 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced ← trust me, this is not too much; somehow the garlic flavor is less intensified while cooking down the white wine
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes ← this dish did have some warmth to it; not spicy spicy, but definitely warmth. If you don’t like heat, you might want to cut the red pepper back to ¼ tsp
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, drained, 1 cup juices reserved, tomatoes crushed by hand ← wait to crush them when you are adding them to the Instant Pot!
- 1 pound spaghetti, broken in half
- 1-ounce chunk pecorino Romano cheese without rind, plus more finely grated to serve
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Cooking notes: The first time I made this, I sliced the pancetta thin and in ½-inch strips (see pic). Maybe it was the size, or maybe the ratio of meat-to-fat, but the pancetta started popping and flying out of the Instant Pot as the fat cooked like pop corn. Fortunately I had a lid handy to keep it contained. I made this dish again about a week later and while still sliced thin, I made the strips slightly longer and wider and had no issues with hot flying pancetta!
Directions
- START
- On a 6-quart Instant Pot, select More/High Sauté
- Add 1 TBL of oil and the pancetta
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta is well-browned and crisp, 5 to 6 minutes ← this is where I found it handy to have a separate lid (see recommended products below), some of the pancetta started popping like hot popcorn kernels and flew out of the pot
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside
- Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, then cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds
- Pour in the wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 7 to 9 minutes
- Add the tomatoes (don’t forget to crush them) and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to stick to the pot, about 8 minutes
- Add the reserved tomato juices and 4 cups water; stir to combine, then distribute the mixture in an even layer
- Add the pasta, placing strands horizontally so they lay flat, then press them into the liquid until submerged
- Set the pecorino chunk on top
- Press Cancel, lock the lid in pace and move the pressure valve to Sealing (mine does this automatically)
- Select Pressure Cook or Manual; make sure the pressure level is set to HIGH
- Set the cooking time for 3 minutes
- When pressure cooking is complete, quick-release the steam by moving the pressure value to Venting (mine has an auto release button)
- Press Cancel, then carefully open the pot
- FINISH
- Select More/High Sauté
- Cook, stirring to incorporate the melted pecorino, until the pasta is al dente and most of the liquid has been absorbed, 3 to 4 minutes
- Press Cancel to turn off the pot
- Using potholders, carefully remove the insert from the housing
- Let stand for 5 minutes
- Stir in the remaining 2 TBL oil, the pancetta and 1 tsp black pepper
- Taste and season with salt
- Serve with grated pecorino and additional black pepper
| Recommended products | |
  | Here’s a link for ordering Milk Street Fast and Slow on Amazon. I gave the book a complete read through the day it arrived. Christopher does a fantastic job at explaining all the tricks to using an Instant Pot that I have yet to read anywhere else. |
  | I purchased the Instant Pot Duo Plus from Amazon in early December 2020. With all the cooking I’m doing now, I was looking for ways to create yummy meals that didn’t require as much supervision so that I could chill more in the evenings. |
  | This lid for the Instant Pot has come in handy for a few recipes, this is one of them! |
Other Instant Pot Recipes – Air Fryer Recipes – On the Grill – What’s for Dinner!