INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil
1.5 cups good beef stock
180g dried spaghetti
1 x 360g jar of tomato pasta sauce*
A good handful of fresh basil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

Meatballs:
500g beef mince, not too lean
150g good quality pork and fennel sausages, meat squeezed from the casings and broken up a bit**
1/3 cup panko crumbs
2 tbsp whole milk
1 small egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
Grated zest of half a lemon
A good grind of fresh nutmeg, or 1/4 tsp ground
2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
1/4 cup grated parmesan
A good handful of Italian parsley leaves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

METHOD

In a large bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients. Be careful to not overmix - you want to just combine and amalgamate the ingredients and, honestly, your hands are your best tool for this. Wet hands and, using a cookie scoop if you have one, scoop and shape about 12 meatballs.

Set your 3L Instant Pot to High Sauté and add the olive oil. Once the oil has warmed, add the meatballs and cook on all sides until lightly browned.***

Stir in your beef stock and make sure you scrape ALL browned bits from the bottom of your pan.

Break your spaghetti in half (so it fits into your pot) and lay it on top of your meatballs and stock. Top with your pasta sauce and, using tongs, just move the spaghetti around a little in the sauce to coat it (ensuring that you leave the spaghetti sitting on top of the meatballs).

Add and engage your pressure cooker lid and set the Instant Pot to high pressure and set the time to 8 minutes. When the time is up leave to naturally release for 5 minutes then quick release the rest of the pressure. Stir the pasta and meatballs gently to combine, carefully breaking up any lumps of pasta, then pop the lid back on and allow to sit for another 5 minutes (your sauce will get thicker on standing). Serve with grated parmesan and chopped basil.

Serves 2-3

* I like to use Delmaine Pasta Sauce and I don't worry that it's not quite 360g.

** I use the L'Authentique brand and this measurement is about 2 sausages. I often make a double batch and free flow freeze the meatballs which uses the whole pack of sausages.

*** Often, if I'm short of time, I omit this step and just use the frozen meatballs. In this case, I would add another minute or two to the cooking time.