Instant Pot Mixed Beans Italiano (a riff on Chickpeas Italiano)

Chickpeas or garbanzos are one of my favorite beans and here they get the Italian treatment. It’s important to thoroughly cook the beans before adding the tomatoes. I always recommend an overnight or quick-soak for beans. We will use mixed heirloom beans instead of chickpeas for this. They won’t take as long to cook so we will be cooking for 8 minutes under pressure. For the stovetop cooking, I will use the saute button on the Instant Pot. 12 minutes high pressure; natural pressure release; 5 minutes stovetop cooking

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Ingredients

1½ cups chickpeas garbanzo beans, pre-soaked (I used mixed heirloom beans)1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
2 medium onions diced
3 cloves garlic chopped
1½ cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried
2 teaspoons fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried
1 bay leaf
2 cups chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil optional
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons chopped basil if available
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in the cooker over medium heat. Sauté the onion for 3 minutes. Add 3 cloves of chopped garlic and sauté another minute.
Add the beans, broth, 3 tablespoons chopped basil, oregano and bay leaf.
Bring to high pressure over high heat or set the pot to high pressure for 12 minutes (in this case it will be 8 minutes for mixed beans). Lower heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 12 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally.
Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the bay leaf and add the tomatoes. Cook over medium heat or on sauté for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes break down, or just lock on the lid for 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove 1 cup of the bean mixture and pureé in a food processor or blender. Return to the pot with the olive oil, remaining garlic, basil and parsley.
Stir in the vinegar and then add salt and pepper to taste.