Instapot Pulled Pork Ragu over Spaghetti Squash
(Serves 4-6)
First of all, let me start by singing the praises of my Instapot. I realize I’m a little late to the game here, but I am so excited about this early Christmas present of mine. It was heavily discounted on Black Friday 🙂 I’ve been playing with it all week, and it truly amazes me how quickly I can create a delicious, yet simple meal with this pressure cooker. It also functions as a slow cooker, steamer, rice cooker, etc. And the best part…it has a sauté function so that I don’t have to dirty a separate pan. Woohoo! And now, on to the recipe…
Ingredients:
- 20 oz Pork Tenerloin
- 1 Spaghetti Squash, roasted, strands pulled out…SEE BELOW FOR RECIPE
- 1 medium Onion, diced
- 5 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 (28 oz) can Crushed Tomatoes
- 1 (12 oz) jar Roasted Peppers, drained
- EVOO
- S&P
- 1 tsp. dried Thyme
- 1 Tbsp fresh Parsley (separated)
- 2 Bay Leaves
Directions:
- Turn on the Instapot’s Sauté function and add a little EVOO to the pot. Season pork with S&P. Sauté pork for 3-4 minutes on each side, until all sides are browned. Remove meat and set aside.
- Add more EVOO to the pot if needed and sauté onions for several minutes, until translucent.
- Add garlic and 1/2 Tbsp of the parsley. Sauté for just a minute, careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add tomatoes, peppers, thyme, and bay leaves.
- Secure lid on the Instapot and cook under high pressure for 45 minutes.
- When finished, allow the steam to release naturally (if possible time-wise, but not a deal-breaker), remove bay leaves, shred pork with two forks, and top with remaining 1/2 Tbsp of parsley.
- Serve over Spaghetti Squash (see below for recipe) or pasta, if that’s more your thing 😉
Of course, you can follow this same recipe in the slow cooker or in a Dutch oven on the stove…it will just take a few more hours for the meat to become pull-apart tender. The benefit of this slower cooking method is that the flavors have a chance to marry for longer. However, the Instapot is a fantastic option when you are pressed for time and need to get dinner cranked out quickly. Enjoy!
Roasted Spaghetti Squash
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Cut spaghetti squash in half length-wise.
- Drizzle EVOO on flesh side of both halves and sprinkle them with S&P.
- Place halves cut-side down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until squash is tender and you can use a fork to pull out strands like spaghetti.
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