Lazy Girl's Meatballs and Pasta

Frozen meatballs... sounds nasty, but... NO! They're good!  I like the small size, Swedish Meatball type.  Not from Ikea, but my neighborhood Kroger store.  They come in a resealable bag.  One serving is 6, but if you throw in a couple for the dog it won't change the cooking time.  If you use the larger meatballs, like the Italian style, it might need to cook longer and would probably mess up the pasta.


Similar to the IP spaghetti, but less work.  I'm a sucker for pasta and less work...

FOR ONE:  (Double for two, won't change the cook time)
6 Frozen Meatballs
1/2 can condensed cream of something soup (or 1/2 jar pasta sauce or beef gravy)
2 ounces pasta (dry, uncooked weight)**
1/2 cup water (about)*
1/2 tsp Better than Boullion (optional)

Put in the meatballs and pasta, cover with the soup.  Add the water.*

Seal the pot and cook at high pressure for half the time called for on the pasta package, around 6 minutes.  Do a quick release.  Pour it into a bowl.  You're done!


*You will get ticker or thinner sauce according to how much water you add, so I can't really give you a specific amount.  You need to make sure the pasta is completely covered. Also, there's a minimum amount required to get pressure, depending on the size of your pot. 


If you're using sauce or gravy, use the minimum amount needed to cover the noodles.  Condensed soup is better, as it needs to be diluted a little to make decent gravy.   I like cream of mushroom with a little beef flavor stirred in.  Campbell's Golden Mushroom is really, really good.

What about the other half of the can? Put it in a container in the fridge.  It'll keep for a week.  Or more.  Just don't use it if it's blue or resembles a science project...

** Don't use too delicate of a pasta or the cooking time will be too short.  Bow tie noodles, rigatoni, radiatore,  large shells, rotini... anything with a cook time of 10-12 minutes should work fine.

Keep in mind that I have a 3 qt. Mini IP.  A large pot might not cook this properly as those need a full cup of liquid to reach full pressure.  (instead of the half cup a mini pot needs)  I like to wave this tidbit in the face of those who say to get the big pot because "you can always cook smaller". Uh, no, that's not how pressure cookers work.