Instant Pot: Chicken, Lentil, and Bacon Stew With Carrots

It sounds comforting, no?  I got down to business and followed the ingredients exactly except I subbed apple cider vinegar for the sherry vinegar.  I used less pancetta and I cut the broth by half a cup too.  I couldn't find french lentils in my usual grocery stores so ordered them online from Amazon.  I didn't want drumsticks so just used thighs.  As an addition, I threw in some organic baby spinach at the end.

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 150 grams no preservatives pancetta, cubed
• 1 medium onion, diced 
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, halved and/or quartered and sliced
• 8 ounces dried, organic French lentils
• 12 sprigs Italian parsley, leaves chopped and stems tied together with kitchen twine.
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 1/2 pounds bone-in, skin on, chicken thighs 
• 3 & 1/2 cups organic "Better than Bouillon" low-sodium chicken stock
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
• 2 large handfuls of organic baby spinach

I started by doing the "mise en place" first.  Everything ready to go.

I used the saute function on my instant pot and added the oil.  When heated, I dumped in the pancetta and stirred until it was starting to crisp.  I put in the onion  and cooked until soft.  Next the carrots, lentils, parsley stems, bay leaves, chicken thighs and stock all went in.

I seasoned with pepper and stirred.  I secured the lid and set the manual high pressure for 20 minutes.  It took about 20 minutes to reach temperature.  When it was finished cooking I used the quick release and removed the lid.  I discarded the parsley stems and bay leaves.  I took the chicken pieces out and put  them on a cutting board.

I put the saute feature back on and let the lentils cook further until the sauce was thick.

I removed all the skin and bones from the chicken.  This was easy to do and nothing was dissolved at all.  The meat and skin pulled away easily.  I put the chicken back in the pot with half the chopped parsley, spinach, vinegar and S&P.  I gave it one final mix and tasted again.  I served adding more parsley, S&P, olive oil and vinegar as garnishes.

This came out exactly like the recipe picture looked.  It tasted like a lush, rich chicken stew.  The oil and vinegar were nice finishes.  We also liked the spinach addition.  I gave my son a very fresh Portuguese bun to dip into his gravy.  Very good meal with not too much effort on a week night.

I'll keep plodding along with the instant pot until I find a recipe I'm WOW'd by though...