Instant Pot Zucchini Bolognese

This one is a Nom Nom Paleo recipe, and as always, did not disappoint in the least bit! I actually had this one saved for a while now and finally decided it was time to try it out. I mean I preach that variety is key to getting more nutrients, but I've been eating cauliflower rice, broccoli, and chicken way too much these days. Anyways, this meal was a TASTY one to mix my meal prep up with! Before you read the Magic Mushroom Powder ingredient below and write this one off, let me throw it out there that I did not use that ingredient, nor did I go out and purchase it (although I am intrigued and love mushrooms and will probably check it out in the future). Instead, the recipe suggests using salt and adding a few drops of fish sauce, which is what I did. I'm sure you can even leave out the fish sauce though and still enjoy this meal. I mean I forgot to get a lemon, so I left that out and didn't think it drastically made a difference to the recipe. Just saying. Also, instead of the diced 1½ pounds zucchini, I grabbed a frozen bag of Wegman's Grilled Vegetables since that mix had some zucchini in it and plenty of other vegetables (eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers, and onions) to add to the meal. I threw these into the food processor to dice up real tiny so that Robbie and my mom would never know they were eating all these amazing vegetables. My last note on this recipe is that I ended up getting closer to 6 lbs of sausage, 2 onions, 2 lbs of diced zucchini (really the Wegman's Grilled Veggies that I just mentioned), and then 8-10 zucchini's to spiralize and serve the meal with. That put my serving size at 24 instead of the 4 servings you get below. If that info helps you let me know and I'll start adding that to my write ups more! Also, I lied, I have one more note... If you don't have a spiralizer you can purchase some freshly pre-made zucchini noodles in the produce aisle or check out the frozen section for some (Green Giant Veggie Spirals® Zucchini is a great option and Trader Joe's also has one). The two spiralizers that I own are the Veggetti (really only usable for Zucchini though) and this 5-Blade Vegetable Slicer (great for all vegetables, including potatoes). Really simple to make your own vegetable noodles and WAY cheaper then buying them pre-made. Alright that is all. I clearly enjoyed this one a lot since I wrote so much detail about it. Like I said in the beginning though, I had this one saved for a while and I don't know why I didn't try it earlier. Just trying to convince you to do the same! Enjoy 😋

Instant Pot Zucchini Bolognese
Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 1½ pounds zucchini, diced into ½-inch pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Magic Mushroom Powder or Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt (with added umami boosters detailed in the instructions)
• Juice from ½ lemon

Directions:

1. Grab your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and turn on the Sauté function. When the metal insert is hot, pour in the olive oil.
2. Toss in the diced onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly softened.
3. Add the Italian sausage and break it up with a silicone spatula. Cook the sausage until it’s no longer pink.
4. Dump in the zucchini, minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon of Magic Mushroom Powder or Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt. (The salt won’t add extra umami, so you may want to add a few drops of fish sauce or a couple of dried mushrooms to the pot for extra savoriness.) Stir well.
5. You don’t need to add any extra liquid. Trust me—the zucchini will release enough liquid for the contents to reach high pressure. Lock the lid and program the Instant Pot to cook for 35 minutes under high pressure.
6. When the sauce is done cooking, you can wait for the pressure to release naturally or you can manually vent it if you’re impatient.
7. The zucchini and onions should be fork-tender and easily mashed with a spatula to form a chunky sauce.
8. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning with additional Magic Mushroom Powder, salt, or freshly ground pepper. Stir in the juice from half a lemon and taste it again. (Always, always, ALWAYS taste your food and season accordingly!)
9. When the sauce is ready, grab a spiralizer to prepare some zucchini noodles (or grab some ready-to-go spiralized veggies at the store). If I’m serving this sauce on zoodles, I drop the raw spiralized zucchini straight into the pot and toss ’em around until the hot sauce softens the zoodles to my liking.
10. Top with your favorite herbs and dig in! This sauce freezes really well so make a batch whenever your vegetable crisper is overflowing with zucchini!

Original recipe found here