kid-friendly
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does this work
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instant pot

Jeanette's twist on this easy dinner recipe can be made in a multi-cooker (such as the Instant Pot) or pressure cooker.

PRO TIP: If using a pressure cooker, make the meat sauce in a skillet before adding to the bowl of cooker with spaghetti.

Adapted from the recipe seen on our YouTube series "Does This Work!?" (watch the full episode above with a special guest appearance by the Instagram influencer behind @dishitgirldina, Dina DeLeasa-Gonsar).

"Does This Work!?"— hosted by senior culinary producer Jeanette Donnarumma — delves into the great big world of trendy, viral recipes that may or may not work. Don't miss a minute of her delicious hits and messy misses by subscribing here.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound ground turkey, or ground beef
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
  • 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 8 ounches spaghetti

Yield

Serves: 4

Preparation

Push "sauté" button and "high" heat on the multi-cooker. Add the olive oil. Once the oil begins to ripple, add in turkey or beef and sauté on “high” with no lid on, breaking up with a wooden spoon or potato masher, until until browned and cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. If, during sautéing process, your multi-cooker signals "burn', just add as splash of water.

Turn heat to “normal” and add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper; cook until the veggies begin to brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Deglaze with red wine and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spoon. Stir in chicken stock, crushed tomatoes and basil.

Break the spaghetti in half and add to the pot, in layers, crosswise, alternating directions (to help prevent clumping).


Click "pressure cook"/"manual" button. Set it on “high” (this will show on the digital display, which has 2 options: low or high). Set time to 8 minutes: 00:08. Turn the vent on top of the lid all the way to the back to "sealing". At this time the pressure will start building (this is called pre-heat mode). This process will take a while, about 10 to 15 minutes due to so much liquid in the pot. Once the multi-cooker is getting close to reaching its optimal temperature, you will see steam coming out of the float valve The screen will show "on" for the duration of the preheat mode. It's not cooking at this point yet.

You will know when the pre-heat mode is over when the float valve pops up ant seals itself. The steam will stop coming out. At this time you will hear the beep,  "on" reading on the screen will be replaced by "00:08", which is the number of minutes. This will start the countdown from 8 minutes down to 0.

Once the countdown is over, the multi-cooker will beep several times and the digital display will show "L0:00". Push "cancel" button to turn off heat warm mode.

How to do “Natural Pressure Release” Method (NPR):
The final step is to make sure your multi-cooker is depressurized before opening the pot.

After the cooking cycle is finished, there are a couple of things that need to be done prior to opening the lid.

First, wait until the floating valve (metal pin) completely drops before opening the lid (about 10 minutes).

Second, turn the venting knob from "sealing" to "venting" to ensure all the pressure is released before opening the lid (about 5 to 10 minutes).