Instant Pot Pesto Pasta with King Oscar Sardines
This Instant Pot Pesto Pasta with King Oscar Sardines is packed with nutrients and clocks in at 15 minutes! It's the perfect weeknight fix.
Servings: 4 servings
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- sharp knife
- Microplane
- Spatula or spoon
Ingredients
- 8 oz penne Or another type of short pasta
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup pesto
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- 1/2 cup ribonned spinach
- 1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes
- 1 can of King Oscar Brisling Mediterranean Sardines (don't drain the oil)
- 1-2 TBSP freshly grated parmesan or pecorino-romano
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Dump the pasta into your Instant Pot. Add the water, then close and secure the lid. Set the valve to "sealing", and cook on high pressure for 5 minutes or half the time suggested on the package. (See notes.)
- When the time is up, hit the quick release button. Once all of the pressure has been released, remove the lid and stir the pasta. All of the water should be absorbed, but if there's any left, simply drain it.
- Add the pesto, spinach, tomatoes, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cheese, and sardines (with the oil) to the Instant Pot. With a spatula or spoon, toss the pasta, breaking down the sardines into bite-sized bits, until everything is well mixed.
- Serve, and garnish with fresh basil if desired.
Notes
Cooking times vary by pasta type, but here's the trick to perfectly pressure-cooked pasta: look at the suggested cooking time on the package of your pasta, and cut the time in half. If it's an odd number, round down. So, if the package suggests 11 minutes until pasta is cooked to al dente, round down to m10, cut that time in half, and you're setting your pasta to cook for 5 minutes. If the package suggests 15 minutes, you'll pressure cook the pasta for 7 minutes.
