Pressure Cooker Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
Soup:
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage or ground beef
- ½ cup finely chopped yellow or white onion
- ½ cup diced carrots, about 2 medium carrots
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed through a garlic press
- 3 cans (15-ounces each) crushed tomatoes (see note)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 dried bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon salt, I use coarse, kosher salt
- Pinch of black pepper, I use coarsely ground
- 6 to 8 cups chicken broth, I use low-sodium (see note)
- 8 to 12 ounces (3-4 cups) bowtie or rotini pasta or broken lasagna noodles (see note)
Cheese Topping:
- 1 cup ricotta cheese or blended cottage cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, plus more for serving
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- Pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- For the cheese topping, stir together all the ingredients until well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- For the soup, select the sauté function on the pressure cooker and cook the sausage or ground beef, onion, carrots, and garlic, for 2-3 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink, breaking the meat into small pieces as it cooks. Drain any excess grease.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, bay leaf, salt and black pepper. Stir well, making sure to scrape up any cooked bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Add 6 cups of the chicken broth and the pasta and stir to combine. Give the bottom of the pot another good scrape (otherwise any cooked food on the bottom of the pot may alert the burn warning when the pressure cooker comes to pressure).
- Secure the lid and set the pressure cooker to cook on high. Use this formula for the cooking time (and read the note below): take the al dente cooking time on the pasta package, cut the time in half and subtract two more minutes. For instance, for pasta that cooks al dente in 12 minutes, the pressure cooker time will be 4 minutes. Round up for 1/2 minutes.
- When the cooking time is finished, let the pressure naturally release for 10-15 minutes (otherwise liquid may spurt out of the valve when releasing pressure). Manually release remaining pressure or let it naturally release all the way (pasta will be a bit softer if doing this since it will continue to cook a little as the pressure naturally releases).
- Stir the soup and add additional chicken broth to thin, if needed (I add about 1 to 2 additional cups). Serve the soup in bowls with spoonfuls of the cheese topping and additional mozzarella or Parmesan cheese on top.
Notes
Pasta: I've used both bowtie (farfalle) and rotini in this soup with good results. You can also use broken lasagna noodles (don't use the no-boil lasagna noodles). The amount of pasta really depends on how thick and pasta-loaded you want the soup. I usually add the full 12 ounces and then thin the soup out, if needed, at the end with additional broth.
Pressure Release: if you know you are going to let the pressure naturally release all the way and maybe even have the soup sit on warm for a while, I would suggest a cooking time of just 1-2 minutes so the noodles aren't overly soft and mushy.
Tomatoes: you can sub out some of the crushed tomatoes for tomato sauce for a richer, slightly thicker soup.
Pressure Cooker Burn Warning: it's really important to scrape up any bits of cooked meat or other food on the bottom of the pot before pressure cooking. If your pressure cooker gives the burn warning quite often (and seems finicky), you might consider sautéing the meat, onions, carrots in a skillet on the stovetop before adding to the pressure cooker.
Stovetop Directions: in a 6-quart pot over medium heat, cook the sausage or ground beef, onions, carrots and garlic until the meat is no longer pink (break the meat into small pieces as it cooks). Drain any excess grease, if needed. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, bay leaf, salt, pepper, 6 cups broth and pasta. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes until the pasta is tender, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add additional broth, if needed, to thin. Serve the soup in bowls with spoonfuls of the cheese topping and additional mozzarella or Parmesan cheese on top.