1teaspoonextra virgin olive oil or oil of your choicefor sautéing (if you don’t use oil, use a bit of stock)
1onion
2stalks of celery120 g
2carrots250 g
3garlic clovesvery plump or use 4-5 if they’re on the small side
425gbaby potatoeshalved or quartered depending on size (you could use other types of potatoes)
600-650gmushroomscut into bite-sized wedges
1tablespoonItalian SeasoningI love the one from The Grape Tree or Mixed Herbs
1teaspoonsmoked paprikaI love Brindisa
100mlwater if you want it less saucy200-250 ml if you want more sauce. You can actually make a little bit of stock and stir it in at the end of cooking time too.
2teaspoonsvegetable stock pasteor a stock cube diluted in the water if you don’t have any of my veg stock paste…. yet
Instructions
Press Sauté and set to Less (in the Ninja Foodi Max I used the LO:MD setting, a low medium heat).
Chop and add the vegetables to the inner pot to sauté as you go. Add the potatoes and mushroom last.
Once the potatoes and mushrooms are in, stir in the water, vegetable stock paste (add a stock cube if you don’t have stock paste) and herbs.
Deglaze the bottom of the inner pot by scraping it with a wooden spoon to remove any burnt-on / caramelised bits.
Make sure the sealing ring is properly in place by pressing it down a few times as you follow the circumference. Lock the lid in. Steam release set to Sealing.
Press Pressure Cook / Pressure / Manual (this will depend on your model) and programme 5 minutes. You can do a quick pressure release after 5 minutes or leave on Warm until you’re ready. In conventional pressure cookers.
In conventional pressure cookers, bring to high pressure and pressure cook for 5 minutes then allow a natural pressure release for 5 minutes or longer.
Notes
My favourite way of eating this stew is by cutting the potatoes with the fork and squishing them into the sauce. So good!Pressure Cooking TerminologyQuick Pressure Release (QPR, also called quick release or QR) means venting the steam as soon as the pressure cooking process finishes, i.e. moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting. Also referred to as a fast release.Natural Pressure Release (NPR, also called natural release or NR) means letting the float valve pop back down of its own accord, so basically you don’t need to do anything at the end and can keep your feet up. If it takes over 15 minutes, you're ok to release the rest of the steam (by turning the steam release handle to Venting) that may be left in order to unlock and open the lid. Also referred to as a slow release.Sometimes you'll see me talk of a combination of NPR followed by a QPR. For example a recipe may have a 4 minute NPR followed by a QPR. You wait for 4 minutes at the end of the pressure cooking time and then do a QPR by moving the steam release handle from Sealing to Venting.