This was my first attempt at spaghetti sauce in my Instant Pot. It might change later, but this was really good. The kids came back for seconds and thirds!
Put 1 cup of water into bottom of Instant Pot. Put sausages into water or onto trivet. (Mine were frozen and I put right into the water.) Cook on high pressure for 1 minute. Let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes or so.
Remove sausages from the pot, but leave cooking water in the pot for additional flavor.
Add all remaining ingredients to pot. Pressure cook for 5 minutes. Let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, slice the sausage. You can either add it to the sauce or serve it on the side. I chose to serve it with some pasta and Parmesan.
Stir and taste; add additional seasoning, if desired.
I am in love with this recipe for cavatelli. It is a denser noodle than I normally enjoy, but it is relatively small shapes that are much neater for children to eat than the long strands of spaghetti. It goes extremely well with a hearty marinara sauce with meat. It is also fun to make. I made this the first time with our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter and she loved helping with it! She also loved how they tasted!
The cavatelli can be made up ahead of time and frozen, before boiling, in a single layer on a cookie sheet. No need to thaw before cooking.
Combine all ingredients in a mixer bowl. (I used a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, but probably any heavy duty mixer will do.) Mix until ingredients come together to form a ball. It may be necessary to add a little more water, but start with this and check it after it starts to come together. You don't want it too sticky, but you don't want it too dry either. Wrap in plastic wrap and leave on counter for about 30-60 minutes for the gluten to relax.
Divide dough into 4 portions and keep all unworked portions covered with plastic except what you are working with.
Flour your work surface and roll the first portion of dough into a long rope. Keep working on it until it is about 1/2" thick. Use a pastry scraper or knife, cut into somewhat equal lengths of about 1/3-1/2".
Flour your work surface. You can use a sushi rolling mat, a gnocchi board or just onto a cutting board or other work surface. I prefer the sushi rolling mat. I got mine on Amazon for $5. I can place a few pieces on the mat at a time.
Then using a pastry scraper or the back of a knife or even your thumb, press down on the pieces of dough and pull back. The dough will make a roll back on itself to make a cute tube shape.
Continue working the rest of the dough until all of it has been shaped into cavatelli.
You can go either direction on the sushi mat or the gnocchi board to get the pattern you desire. I like going the long way on the sushi mat.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and add sea salt liberally. I also added some olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.
Boil the cavatelli for a few minutes, then remove from water.
This is excellent served with a hearty marinara sauce with meat and cheese.
I was looking through various pasta recipes today, and they were all basically the same: flour, eggs, salt, some with or without oil or water… But a comment on one of the recipes really struck me. It was saying that they prefer this recipe over the one that they were reviewing because it was so much easier to handle. I decided I needed to give it a try, so I made a batch of noodles as a side dish. I think these were the best noodles I have ever tasted in my life! And the dough was indeed very easy to work with. I am definitely going to make this recipe again!!!
Combine all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer until a ball of dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for 30-60 minutes.
Process with Kitchen Aid pasta attachments.
Cook in boiling salted water for 2 minutes.
This is the recipe my daughter-in-law gave me. She says that she tweaks the ingredients, such as salt, pepper and garlic. Also, she prefers more parmesan, but our son (her husband) prefers it this way, so it is a personal preference.
Melt butter in a saucepan and sautee garlic until tender. Add remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring, until cheese is melted and ingredients are blended.
These are called Italian Meatballs, but they can be made into just about any kind of meatball you want by changing or leaving out the Parmesan cheese. You can make Swedish Meatballs https://www.cherylsrecipes.net/recipe/swedish-meatballs/, BBQ Meatballs, Sweet & Sour Meatballs, etc. You can even cut small cubes of mozzarella cheese (or any other kind of cheese) and wrap the meatball mixture around it before baking. You will want to make a larger meatball for making them this way, though. Meatballs always make a good dish for a potluck or a party!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients for meatballs with mixer and shape into balls. (I like to make smaller meatballs using a small cookie scoop.) Bake for 15 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Although spelt is actually a type of wheat flour, most people with wheat allergies can digest spelt flour with no problem. Obviously, you should not eat spelt if it is a problem for you.
I will never buy pizza sauce again after discovering this recipe! It is quick, easy and thick, and does not require any cooking before it goes on the pizza!
