Instant Pot Sausage and Spinach Soup

My quest to use our numerous cookbooks and to come up with a Soup Sunday brought me to dusting off the Instapot.  I am a little nervous using it, probably because we don't use it very often, but I tried it out yesterday.  The recipe is for a Sausage and Spinach soup which in the end was very familiar to the potato and sausage soup I made a couple of weeks ago.  

Now the question is "Did this speed up the process rather than cooking on my stove top?".  I really don't know.  But the soup was good! 

2 tbsp of olive oil

1/4 stick (2 tbsp) of salted butter

3 large shallots, diced

2 lbs of Italian Sausage (sweet, hot or mixed), casing removed

1 tbsp of crushed garlic

1 cup of sherry wine or a dry white wine (like a Sauvignon Blanc)

5 cups of garlic or chicken broth

1 tsp of Italian seasoning

1 tsp of oregano

1 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of seasoned salt

1 tsp of black pepper

1.5 lbs of baby red (or white) potatoes, sliced into quarters with the skin still on

5-8 oz of baby spinach

5.2 oz of Boursin (or 5 oz of a brick of cream cheese

1 cup of heavy cream or half & half

Crusty Italian or French bread, to dip in the soup

Add the olive oil and butter to the Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi. Hit “Sauté” and adjust so it’s on the “More” or “High” setting (hit “Start” after if using the Ninja Foodi). Once the butters' melted, add in the shallots and sauté for 3-5 minutes until lightly browned.

Next, add the sausage and break it down with a wooden spatula/mixing spoon until crumbled (like a ground beef) and sauté (stir & set) for another 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic about 1 minute after the sausage is cooking and stir it in.

Pour in the sherry and let simmer for 3 minutes and follow with the broth, Italian seasoning, oregano, garlic powder, seasoned salt and black pepper. Stir well.

Lastly, add in the potatoes, top with spinach and DO NOT STIR (leave the spinach right on top as it will cook down into nothing). Secure the pressure cooking lid, hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” or “Stop” and hit “Pressure Cook” or “Manual” high pressure for 10 minutes (it will take a solid 10 minutes or so to come to pressure due to the amount of volume in the pot). Quick release when done.

Stir in the Boursin (or cream cheese) until melded and then add the heavy cream or half & half

Ladle into bowls and serve with some crusty Italian or French bread. Enjoy!