Okay, so I'm late to the party, but, I'm still bringing the fun!! My dear husband surprised me with an Instant Pot Duo (8 qt) this weekend.
I'll admit, I was a bit scared to buy one sooner, as I still remember the scary stories I would get from my grandmother and mother about the original pressure cookers. I just knew if I used one, I would be rushing through a recipe, make a mistake, and blow up the whole house!!
Well, I will assure you, it's just not that hard! I do have a little learning curve to figure out some of the tricks to modifying recipes, but overall it's a pretty easy start up to crank out recipes the first day you bring it home.
Now, getting on with the recipe, this is one I originally found on Pinterest, from the food blogger recipesofholly.com. She has a great original recipe there and I made just a couple changes to make it suit our family needs.
Ingredients:
1 32 oz carton of low sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes with herbs, drained and dabbed off with a paper towel, chopped.
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lb Boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 in cubes
12 oz uncooked Casarecce chickpea pasta.
5 oz fresh baby spinach
1 8 oz light cream cheese, cut into cubes and softened
1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese.
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1/8 cup of dried basil
Instructions:
In your Instant Pot stir together the broth, Italian seasoning, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. You may add more seasonings at the end if needed, but this is a good start!
Stir in cubed chicken breast and pasta. Make sure it is fully submerged in the broth.
Secure the lid, set the pressure valve to sealing position. Select high pressure and set for 6 minutes.
After the time is up, select "cancel" and use the quick release method to release pressure. This is done by turning the valve to "venting" position. Be careful to stand back as steam will release.
When the valve is done with releasing steam, open lid and stir noodles and chicken to separate. Add in fresh spinach, softened cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese until combined.
Let it rest for approximately 10 minutes to thicken.
Sprinkle on basil just before serving and serve warm.
Now, I like to make big batches of dinner, because we eat dinner leftovers for lunch to reduce the amount of food prepping during busy schedules. I personally doubled this recipe and it fit perfectly in my 8 qt Instant Pot.
I highly recommend this method as this particular dish makes great leftovers and will keep you and your family from the boring box lunch or possible fast food options you would otherwise consider during your busy workday. Just pack up each portion when you are doing kitchen clean up and put it in the fridge for the next day!
Hope this recipe inspires you to try something new today! Let me know if you've tried it and any modifications you may have tried too!!