Italian Sausage with Onions and Peppers in the Instant Pot

Pressure cooking simple ingredients such as this ensures the sausages are infused or pressured with flavors one could not get from a traditional long simmer on the stove top. And the sausages remain juicy.

Cut the peppers and onions into wider widths than usual since pressure cooking "shrinks" veggies.

Serve on a hoagie or over rice. Fresh pasta, if you can get it or know how to make it. The veggie/sauce mixture by itself is wonderful piled on a nice thick slice of artisan bread.

• 1 pound Italian sausages (I use Johnsonville brand"mild")*
• 8 ounces sliced onion
• 8 ounces sliced peppers (I used green and red)
• 1 14.5 oz can diced, fire-roasted tomatoes, juice and all
• 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 7 ounces (1/2 can) water or stock of your choice
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasonings
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• A few shakes Ancho chili powder, Cayenne or, my favorite, Aleppo Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar

Put a bit of olive oil in the instant pot. Switch on saute mode and lightly brown the sausages. Do not cook through. Remove to a plate. Add peppers and onions. Saute just until they begin to lose their crispness. Add tomatoes and garlic. Mix tomato paste with water in the can. Add to pepper/onion mixture. Add seasonings.

Return sausages to the pot. Turn off saute mode.

Set manual mode for five minutes. When done, do a quick release.

No instant pot? No problem:

Lightly brown sausages in a 12-inch skillet or Dutch oven. Remove. Add pepper and onion mixture and stir until they lose their crispness. Add tomatoes and garlic. Mix tomato paste with water in the can. Add to pepper/onion mixture. Add seasonings. Cover and simmer for at least one hour. Add more water if needed.

*I suggest mild or hot sausages. I have used "sweet" but the dish lacks in flavor. 

Update 2023: Consistency is now rare for American food products. Use sausages you love and know to be good.