Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
This Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Pepperoni Pizza Pasta is a perfect family meal. It’s hearty and filling with an irresistible golden, cheesy top. If you don’t have the new Ninja Foodi, you can also make this in your Instant Pot or other brand of electric pressure cooker.
The Ninja Foodi is a pressure cooker air fryer combo appliance that let’s you pressure cook and then crisp up / brown what you’ve pressure cooked right in the same pot. It’s a fun new appliance that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago: Ninja Foodi Review.
This Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Pepperoni Pizza Pasta is from the cookbook that came with the Foodi. It’s similar to a Pepperoni Pizza Pasta recipe in my cookbook, The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook, so I wanted to give their version a try.
Making Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
The Foodi recipe used an 8 inch pepperoni sausage cut into pieces in the sauce. I decided to try using Italian sausage so I could test out the Foodi’s saute function.
I was curious if the nonstick ceramic pot would brown as well as a stainless steel pot. As you can see from the photos above, the Ninja Foodi did a great browning the sausage.
My local grocery stores sells a ground country-style chicken sausage that my family loves, so I used their spicy Italian chicken sausage. Chicken sausage doesn’t always brown well, so you have to preheat your pot before you start to brown.
After you’ve browned and drained the sausage, you’ll add the remaining sauce ingredients and noodles and pressure cook the pasta right in the sauce.
Once you’ve finished the pressure cooking steps, then you add the pepperoni cheese layer on top and brown it right in the Foodi.
Instead of using full-size pepperoni slices, I switched it up and used pepperoni minis. I like to use the mini pepperoni because they spread more evenly and you get more pepperoni in every bite.
I didn’t have enough mozzarella cheese for both layers of cheese, so I used a Colby Jack shredded cheese blend for the first layer. Then, I layered on the mini pepperoni and finished with the mozzarella cheese.
Making Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
If you don’t have a Foodi, which most of you won’t because it’s so new, you can top the pressure cooker pasta with the cheese and pepperoni. Then put the pressure cooker lid back on and let the heat from the pasta melt the cheese.
Or, if you don’t mind washing another pan, put the pasta in a 9×13 pan after pressure cooking. Add the cheese and pepperoni layers and bake it in a 400°F oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and browned.
This recipe was a big hit with my family. If your family loves pasta and pizza, they’re going to love this recipe as well.
Pressure Cooker Pepperoni Pizza Pasta
This Pressure Cooker Pepperoni Pizza Pasta is a perfect family meal. It’s a 30 minute meal with an irresistible golden, cheesy top. It cooks up even quicker when you brown it in your Ninja Foodi or with your Mealthy Crisp Lid!
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Itallian Sausage
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 6 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 can (28 ounces) peeled San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 can (28 ounces) San Marzano tomato puree
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 box (16 ounces) dry rigatoni pasta
- 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 package (6 ounces) thin-sliced pepperoni
Instructions
- Select Saute (Sear/Saute MD:Hi on the Foodi). Preheat pot for 5 minutes. Cook sausage until browned and crumbled. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Add onion and olive oil to the pot. Cook for 2 minutes. Add salt, oregano, basil, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until onions are lightly browned and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add browned sausage, garlic. wine, tomatoes, tomato puree, chicken stock, and pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Lock the pressure cooking lid in place.
- Select High Pressure and 6 minute cook time. If necessary, press start to begin.
- When pressure cooking is complete, allow pressure to natural release for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, quick release remaining pressure. Carefully remove the lid.
- Stir the sauce with a wooden spoon, crushing tomatoes in the process.
- Cover pasta mixture with 3 cups shredded mozzarella. Lay pepperoni slices across mozzarella. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over pepperoni slices. (If you're not using the Foodi to melt and brown the cheese, transfer pasta to a 9x13 pan before topping with cheese.)
- Foodi: Close crisping lid. Select Air Crisp, set temperature to 400ºF and set time to 5 minutes. Select Start to begin. Oven: Preheat oven to 400ºF and cook until cheese is melted and browned.
- Serve immediately.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 465Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 1141mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 3gSugar: 9gProtein: 26g
More Pressure Cooking Today recipes that could use the Foodi’s crisping lid:
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Pressure Cooker Tandoori Chicken
- Meat-Lover’s Frittata (Crustless Quiche)
- Salsa Lime Mozzarella Chicken
- Chile Colorado Smothered Burritos
- Pressure Cooker Marinara Chicken with Melted Mozzarella
Recipes from The Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook that could use the Foodi’s crisping lid:
- Crustless Ham and Cheese Quiche (page 38
- Mexican Breakfast Casserole (page 41)
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake (page 155)
- Chicken Enchilada Pasta (page 156)
- Chicken Tetrazzini (page 164)
- Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole (page 178)
- Pepperoni Pizza Pasta (page 185)
- Barbecue Bacon Meat Loaf (page 208)
- Lemon Thyme “Roasted” Chicken (page 234)
- Brown Rice Fiesta Bake (page 238)
- Cheesy Potatoes au Gratin (page 246)
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I made this tonight, and it’s okay. I halved the recipe because it’s just me. You can get away with only using your favorite spaghetti sauce to replace the tomatoes and the puree, which I will do next time. I used Italian six-cheese because mozzarella is boring. Also, the amount of oil to use is missing from the recipe. I used two tablespoons.
This was an amazing recipe! I didn’t use wine I used the whole box of chicken broth..it was delish!!
Thanks for sharing Rachel – glad it was a hit.
Is there anything I can substitute the red wine with? I want to make this at work, but it is an alcohol free environment.
Hi Joe – I would just add an additional cup of chicken stock. Enjoy!
Sigh. This recipe holds the ignominious destination of being my first instant pot fail. Well, not quite fail, but it didn’t work as I had expected. I didn’t see if the recipe indicated it was for a 6 or 8 quart IP. perhaps that was my problem, or maybe there was not enough fluid as other reviewers said, but it scorched twice, and by that time the noodles were cooked and I could salvage the meal…and the meal was terrific. I’ll try to modify the recipe and try again!
Hi Gary – all my recipes are created using a 6-quart pressure cooker. If you’re using the 8 quart, you may need to add more liquid to many recipes. Glad you recognized that the pasta was cooked and you were able to enjoy the meal.
Awesome recipe!!
This was so good!! My whole family enjoyed it!
So tasty and filling!
This was my husband’s favorite meal. We loved it. Thank you!
This was brilliant and tasted delicious.
Is there a recipe for spaghetti sauce instead of tomatoes and red wine? Thanks.
Hi Nancy – any of the electric pressure cooker / Instant Pot recipes will work in the Ninja Foodi as well. Maybe you’d refer something like this https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-bow-tie-pasta/
Pizza Pasta recipe This looks and sounds delicious! so I will be saving your recipe for later. Thanks for sharing!
I have done a bunch of this type recipes in the instant pot and I have found that you need at
least 2-3 cups of water (broth) for it to cook that amount of pasta etc. with out scorching. I always add a circle
of parchment paper in the bottom first. To me the one cup of water and tomatoes is not enough.
What do you think and what has your experience been? Great idea about the blow torch that is gathering dust
in the back of my pantry.
Hi Mary – This recipe has 1 cup of wine, two cans of tomatoes and 2 cups of chicken broth, so there’s plenty of liquid. Enjoy!
Yes! My Foodi stopped and told me to add water! I had to add 2 cups of water before continuing on with the recipe. The wine and chicken stock are not enough alone. I was able to salvage my recipe, thank goodness. It makes a lot of food so it spoiling would have been terrible! It was enjoyed by the entire family once we got it done.
Glad you were able to get it to work. The type of pasta you use can make a difference as well.
I have yet to try the Pepperoni Pizza Pasta recipe from your cookbook but I’ve gotta tell ya, these photos of yours have me craving pasta soon! I’m fine with an extra dish or 2 to wash so I’d probably transfer from pressure cooker to oven to melt the cheese. I’m looking forward to making this one-I’m sure Bob and I will love it.
Great! Hope you and Bob love it!
Why do you use Kosher salt instead cheaper ordinary table salt when they are chemically identical, and it’s being melted in the liquid? I can understand using Kosher salt when the grainy texture is needed, e.g. for dry rubs or salt-crusting, but if the salt is going to melt, then what is the advantage to using more expensive Kosher salt?
The original recipe calls for Kosher salt so I didn’t do the conversion. Here’s a good article on why chefs like to use kosher salt and how to convert it. https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/ask-the-food-lab-do-i-need-to-use-kosher-salt.html
If you have a large toaster oven or a combo convection-microwave (I have both), you can just put the pressure cooker container in the appliance for broiling. No need to dirty another container. Or even better, get yourself a food torch and blast it at the cheese, and it should be browned in less than a minute. They cost as little as $10 on ebay and Amazon, and are incredibly useful for pressure cooking and sous vide (and microwave cooking) since those methods don’t brown or crisp foods.