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I’ll be the first to admit that when I eat pasta with meat sauce, most of the time I use jarred marinara sauce and ground beef as the meat. But sometimes I crave a hearty, restaurant-style pasta dish like the kind your loving grandma makes dinner for your family all day long. It doesn’t have to take an entire day to create an indulgent, memorable Italian dinner that the whole family will love. That’s thanks to the pressure cooker. Considering that Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, recently developed a pressure cooker for Walmart, it’s no surprise that she has a recipe for the perfect Pressure Cooker Short Rib Ragu tucked away.
Drummond shared her recipe for short rib ragu on Instagram, telling fans it’s “one of the best pasta sauces I’ve ever had.” Best of all, she also provided step-by-step instructions for making the recipe on the stovetop. Even better, if you use a pressure cooker, it comes together in just under two hours instead of the four to five hours that the stovetop version takes.
Pioneer Woman 6 Quart Pressure Cooker
Here’s how she makes this rich, meaty pasta sauce: First, she seasons the short ribs and sears them to intensify the meaty flavor. Then she pressure cooks (or braises) the meat with classic ingredients like onion and garlic, tomato paste, canned whole tomatoes, red wine, and red pepper flakes. After 50 minutes, Drummond removes the short ribs, removes the juicy meat from the bone, shreds it, and puts it back in the pot.
Drummond simmers the sauce in the pressure cooker for another 10 minutes (or on the stove for 30 minutes) so all the flavors can meld and the short ribs become really tender.
Mix it with your favorite pasta, like boxed rigatoni or fresh fettuccine, and top with cheese for a restaurant-quality meal in the comfort of your own home. You can also mix this sauce with pre-cooked ziti and béchamel sauce and bake it in the oven for a hearty meal that freezes well. With a pressure cooker, you don’t have to be in front of the stove all day to make this dinner for your family.
Check out the gallery before you go:
Video: How to make Giada De Laurentiis’ stuffed lasagna rolls