Cooking gammon in the Instant Pot is easy, painless and, above all, tasty. Instant Pot ham though is not great for my waist line as I seem to snack on it all day (particularly good dipped in Quirky Cooking's BBQ Sauce if you haven't glazed it!). In my defence, it's really, really nice and well, it's there in the fridge, all I have to do is pinch a bit.

There are two ways of cooking Instant Pot ham, all details here.

For this recipe I use the second method detailed in that post, so that I get lots of lovely stock for other uses. This Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Vegetable and Pasta Soup with Ham Stock offers a quick and delicious use for it.

The other day I blogged a delicious Instant Pot Ham and Cabbage Soup also perfect for leftover gammon stock.

This is a very simple recipe, one of those I quickly give the method for in my Pressure Cooking UK with Feisty Tapas group, in fact you probably remember it from something like Autumn 2015! I cook this type of thing regularly (it's also great with chicken stock) as it makes life easier but I never blog it because, well, it's so easy and simple that it seems overkill but I've been thinking lately that it's worth writing down these things too even if the photos aren't that great because they are great mid-week dishes that are handy for using up ingredients from the fridge.

Ready for the recipe?

Instant Pot Vegetable and Pasta Soup with Ham Stock

Serves: pretty sure that between 2 and 4 people but I do not share! Well, sometimes with the little Tapita but that's it!

For this recipe you need to have cooked a gammon first and have lots of delicious stock, check the method here 

Ingredients

- Ham stock, it can be cold, approx 1 litre, add more if you don't like your soup as thick as I do

- 2 carrots, sliced

- 1 leek, sliced

- 1 chorizo, peeled and sliced (or you could of course add small pieces of the lovely ham you just cooked, or both)

- a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes

- 100 g De Cecco Stellette (Orzo also works well)

Method

1. Put all the ingredients except the pasta in the Instant Pot. Lock the lid in. Make sure the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing. Press Manual and programme 4 minutes with the + and - buttons, when the Instant Pot finishes the pressure cooking cycle you can do a quick release or a natural release, this will depend on what you're doing, this is meant to be an easy lunch or dinner, remember?

2. Add the pasta, lock the lid in again, making sure the steam release handle is pointing to Sealing, press Manual and programme 1 minute, let it do natural release for 2-3 minutes, then do a quick release. If the pasta is not fully cooked, let it stand for a little while or press Sauté and let it simmer, keeping an eye on the pasta.

Note: You can of course skip the chorizo and add diced gammon at the end, but you know me and chorizo... Or of course you could use both

Tip: It will also be lovely with kale or spinach instead of leek.

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