Italian sausages are great in a warm bun, used in pasta dishes or even chopped up in soup. But if you have fresh Italian sausages on hand and aren’t in the mood for any of those options, why not try braising them? I came across this recipe from Rachel Ray’s cookbook, 365 No Repeats and given that I had everything on hand, it was easy to put this dish together – in less than 30 minutes even! (I think Rachel would have been proud.)
The dish is essentially browned sausage that’s pressure cooked along with onions in a sweet balsamic broth. I especially like that I can prepare this all in one pot – the Instant Pot – which means less clean up… and that’s always a good thing. I served the braised sausage with my tangy Horseradish Smashed Potatoes.
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 links of sweet Italian sausage
2 medium onions, sliced thinly.
1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
2 tablespoons honey
Plug in the IP with insert set in place.
Add thyme, garlic and 1 cup of chicken broth, .
Press MANUAL and adjust the time to 6 minutes on HIGH pressure.
Once at pressure, the display will reflect 6 (the number of minutes you initially set) and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
Open up your IP when the pin has dropped (allow a few minutes for this to happen). The IP will automatically default to the WARM mode.
Press SAUTE and add the balsamic vinegar, remaining 1 cup chicken stock, and honey. Bring the liquid to a simmer, and cook until the sauce has reduced by half.
To serve, plate up the sausages (whole or sliced) and serve with the braising liquid.
Interesting recipe. It does not mention when to add the garlic or thyme. I`ll try adding them at the same time as the onions and see how that goes …….
The garlic & thyme is added with the chicken broth…