Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup is hearty tomato-based comforting bowl of goodness! Quick and simple to put together you'll love this twist on a traditional Sardinian Sausage Ragu.
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What is a Sardinian-style ragu?
Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea just behind Sicily. It is west of the Italian peninsula, and is one of it's 20 defined regions. The island is a great tourist destination known for its clear and pristine beaches. It even holds a place in Greek and Roman mythology as the place the gods told Hercules to start a colony at after he had completed his labors.
The island is also known for Malloreddus alla Campidanese. This is a dumpling like pasta served with a rich ragu of tomatoes, sausage, and saffron. Saffron is a unique ingredient to the dish as this spice was brought by the Phoenicians from the Middle East to Italy. If you would like to learn more check out this great BBC article.
Prepping the gnocchi soup
You can use either sweet or hot Italian sausage for this recipe. If your sausage is in casings, you will need to remove them. Remove them by putting the tip of a knife under the casing and gently cutting it moving upwards then peel off. Get the rest of your ingredients ready.
Set the Instant Pot to saute when heated add a little olive oil and add in the sausage. Using a spoon or spatula break up the sausage as it cooks into pieces. Cook the sausage until it is no longer pink.
Add in the minced garlic, saffron (optional), pepper, salt, Italian seasoning, and hot red pepper flakes. Pour in the wine, note this optional. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
Pour in the water and stir. Turn off the saute function, and layer in the gnocchi.
Next add a can of San Marzano tomatoes, and crush the tomatoes with your hand as you add them on top of the gnocchi. Resist the urge, and DO NOT STIR.
You can also use crushed San Marzano tomatoes if you can find them. I'm usually not lucky enough to find them in the store! 😉 LOL
Cooking and finishing the sausage soup
Seal the lid on the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure (normal) for three minutes then follow with a quick release. If anything starts to drip from the Instant Pot just be sure to release in short bursts. Once open stir everything together.
Next add in a bag of baby spinach, and turn the Instant Pot on to saute.
Stir the spinach until wilted then turn off the saute function.
Serve immediately topped with Parmesan cheese or store up to one week in an airtight container. Note because potato gnocchi was used this may cause the soup to thicken once cooled. If desired, this may be thinned with water or chicken broth when reheating leftovers.
How to make it
I paired this soup with my Crusty Instant Pot French Bread! If you enjoyed this recipe you would love Spicy Black-Eyed Pea Stew, or Instant Pot French Onion Soup.
Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian Sausage Sweet or Hot
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- ½ tsp saffron optional
- ½ cup white wine optional
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp hot red pepper flakes reduce by half if using hot sausage
- ½ tsp Italian Herb Seasoning
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 pound gnocchi store bought
- 28 ounces San Marzano Tomatoes crushed by hand
- 6 ounces baby spinach
Instructions
- Remove sausage from casings, and set Instant Pot to Saute mode. When heated add olive oil and sausage. Break up sausage into pieces. Cook until no longer pink.
- Add wine, garlic, saffron, and seasonings. Cook for a couple of minutes to reduce the wine. Add the water and stir. Turn off the saute function.
- Layer the gnocchi on top of the sausage, and do the same with the tomatoes crushing them by hand as you add them.
- Seal the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure (normal) for three minutes followed with a quick release. If anything sputters out just release the pressure in short bursts.
- Stir the ingredients, and set to saute. Add baby spinach and stir until wilted for about two minutes.
- Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese, or keep in an airtight container for up to one week. Note soup will thicken due to the potato gnocchi when leftover. May add more water to thin if desired.