Instant Pot Sunday Sauce (Meat Sauce)

Name: Instant Pot Sunday Sauce (Meat Sauce)
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: Olive Oil: 1 Tbsp; Short Ribs: 2 bone-in beef short ribs; Pork Ribs (Country-Style): 2; Onions: 1; Garlic: 6 cloves; Tomato Paste: 1/2 cup; Red Wine: 1/2 cup; Whole Peeled Tomatoes: 28 ounce can; Italian Sausage: 4 links; Kosher Salt: to taste; Black Pepper: to taste; Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: to taste; Ground Beef: 1 lb; Parmesan Cheese: 1/2 cup; Bread Crumbs: 1/4 cup; Milk: 1/4 cup; Parsley: 1/4 cup; Garlic: 2 cloves; Eggs: 1; Kosher Salt: to taste; Black Pepper: to taste

Cuisine:

Italian

Medium

Ingredients

For the Sauce
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 bone-in beef short ribs Short Ribs
about 2 pounds
2 Pork Ribs (Country-Style)
about 1 pound
1 Onions
large, diced
6 cloves Garlic
minced
1/2 cup Tomato Paste
1/2 cup Red Wine
dry, red wine
28 ounce can Whole Peeled Tomatoes
4 links Italian Sausage
sweet or hot
to taste Kosher Salt
to taste Black Pepper
to taste Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
optional
For the Meatballs
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
grated
1/4 cup Bread Crumbs
plain
1/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Parsley
chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 cloves Garlic
grated or minced
1 Eggs
large
to taste Kosher Salt
to taste Black Pepper

Directions

This is another recipe that I found a while ago and just never got around to making.

Recently I had been thinking about making Bolognese Sauce again. Our go-to Bolognese is Anne Burrell’s (sorry Mom). Her recipe can be found here: Pasta Bolognese by Anne Burrell

I remembered that I had this Instant Pot Sunday Sauce recipe saved and decided to try it instead. I made the recipe as-is and was honestly not overwhelmed by it. It was good….. but not great. I think there is some potential here, so I decided to post the recipe anyway. The next time I make it, however, I will use our own recipe for the (Meatballs, and I will either cook the sausage separately and have it on the side or just omit the sausage. I thought the sausage overwhelmed the rest of the dish when everything was cooked together.

Here is a link to the original recipe.

Instant Pot Sunday Sauce

Update – 2023-08-20

I made this again today with a few changes. First, I did not make any sausage with it. As I suspected, the dish tasted much better without the sausage overpowering the other flavors. I also didn’t bother making homemade meatballs from scratch. I used about a pound or so of Costco’s Frozen Italian Meatballs (thawed) instead. They aren’t as good as our homemade meatballs but they are tasty, and their small size is suitable for this dish.

Overall this second attempt was much better. I plan to continue to tweak it before I update the recipe officially. One issue that we had was that the sauce was a bit watery.

For my next attempt, I am considering:

Increasing the amount of red wine to 1 cup
Increasing the amount of tomato paste to thicken the sauce
Using crushed tomatoes instead of whole peeled tomatoes
Using a more tender cut of beef

Steps

1 Done	For the sauce: Add the oil to a 6-quart Instant Pot® and set to saute (see Cook's Note). Add the short ribs and brown well. Transfer to a plate, then add the pork ribs and brown well. Transfer to a plate. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onions are golden and the garlic is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir well to coat all the onions. Pour in the wine and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil and let cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
2 Done	Stir in the tomatoes, then add the beef, pork, sausages, 1 tablespoon salt, several grinds of black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes if using.
3 Done	Follow the manufacturer's guide for locking the lid and preparing to cook. Set to pressure cook on manual high setting for 50 minutes.
4 Done	For the meatballs: Meanwhile, combine the sirloin, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, milk, parsley, garlic, egg, some salt and a few grinds of pepper in a medium bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon. Form into 1- to 2-inch balls.
5 Done	After the pressure cook cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer's guide for quick release and wait until the quick release cycle is complete. Be careful of any remaining steam and unlock and remove the lid.
6 Done	Carefully remove the beef, pork and sausage. Skim any excess fat from the sauce and discard. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard any bones and excess fat from the meat. Chop the meat and sausage into bite-size pieces. Return the meat to the sauce and add the meatballs to the pot. Seal the pot and cook at manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
7 Done	After the pressure cook cycle is complete, follow the manufacturer's guide for quick release and wait until the quick release cycle is complete. Be careful of any remaining steam and unlock and remove the lid. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over pasta or polenta.