Description
Instant Pot Marcella Hazan Tomato Sauce. The famous sauce from Marcella's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, adapted to work in a pressure cooker.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, peeled and halved
- 2 (28-ounce) cans San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes (or plum tomatoes), crushed by hand, with juices
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (If using Italian tomatoes - American canned tomatoes have extra sodium and don’t need more)
Instructions
- Melt the butter, crush the tomatoes, everything in the pot: Set the Instant Pot for Sauté mode (medium heat in a stovetop PC) and add the butter to the pot, and then the onion halves, cut side down. When the butter stops foaming, pour in the hand-crushed tomatoes. (Sprinkle with the fine sea salt if they are Italian canned tomatoes, otherwise, hold the salt.)
- Pressure cook for 30 minutes with a natural pressure release: Pressure cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in an Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker ("Manual" or "Pressure Cook" mode), or for 24 minutes in a stovetop pressure cooker. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 minutes.
- Discard the onion and serve: Discard the onion, give the sauce a vigorous stir to break up the tomatoes, and serve.
Notes
- This recipe makes enough sauce to cover a pound of pasta
- Chunky vs. smooth sauce: This is a chunky sauce - hand-crushing the tomatoes only goes so far. If you want a smooth sauce, use a stick blender to puree the tomatoes in the pot after cooking.
- Extras: The beauty of this sauce is in its simplicity. And...I can't help myself. I mess with it. Marcella tosses everything in the pot; I melt the butter and brown the onions a little before adding the tomatoes. I will add a teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning or dried basil, or maybe mince fresh basil and sprinkle it over the sauce right before serving; Marcella uses her sauce straight up.
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian