Swedish Meatballs

It is a well known fact worldwide that when the word "swedish" is used, it is bound to be good.  Let's face it the men and women are beautiful, Stieg Larsson - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy book turn movie is great, ABBA will be around forever (though let's not forget Ace of Base.. Whoah,ah,oh,oh, YEA!) and their meatballs - not the IKEA variety though!!

Swedish Meatballs have long been a favorite from growing up to a bi-weekly request from T. Luckily, you can double the recipe and freeze for those nights you don't feel like really cooking. Voila.. meatballs at the ready!

To make the meatballs, finely dice an onion.  Yellow or red works fine.  Melt 1 T of butter in a frying pan and add the onion.  Make sure it is cooked till it is very soft. I like to keep going for a bit to get the almost but not burned pieces.  Set aside until cooled.

Preheat the oven to 400 F / 204 C.  Add the beef in a bowl.  In a separate bowl add the egg and lightly beat with a fork.  I add in the salt and nutmeg to the egg mixture and beat again.  This way I know the salt and nutmeg are fully incorporated in the meatballs.

Add the egg mixture, breadcrumbs and cooked onion to the beef bowl.  Combine with a fork or your hands.  Try not to over mix or the meatballs will be a dense and compact little nuggets.

Form with your hands into little balls.  I aim for golf ball size.. sometimes a bit bigger / sometimes a bit smaller.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in oven for 10-12 minutes.  I usually give a little flip towards the 8 minute mark.  This will just allow for the undersides to be fully browned.  If you forget, no sweat - it will be fine.  Set meatballs aside.  

Heat your stock in the microwave or on the stove on a low heat.

Now to create the roux.  On medium heat, add 3 T butter to the pan and melt.  Add the flour and whisk immediately.  Keep whisking, getting every edge/corner possible until it is the color of a milky coffee and it smells like a cooked pie crust.  Keep the faith on this, it will get there. (sorry no photos... will work on the combo of hot stove, continuous whisking and photo taking skills).

Add the warm stock little by little whisking as you do this.  Once incorporated, add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in sour cream/ cream fraiche.  Either is fine and I have even replaced this with fat free greek yogurt.  They will all give the sauce the required tang. 

Add the meatballs back to the sauce and simmer while the noodles / potatoes are cooking 10-15 minutes.

Traditionally, the meatballs are served with mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes.  I like to serve with mashed potatoes or branch out with noodles (homemade are best, but lets be honest, unless you are in the vicinity of South Dakota, you might not have homemade on hand), in which case pappardelle pasta works great.  They are also delish on their own.  Really, whatever floats your boat.

If you have doubled the recipe (all my photos show the doubled amount) and want to freeze, divide into containers and freeze up to 3 months.  Thaw in the fridge the night before you want to eat, then re-heat.  Enjoy!

Swedish Meatballs

1 – 1.5 lbs (500-600 grams) ground beef (approx.)

1 onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon  (15 grams) butter

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 scant cup (140-150 grams) Italian bread crumbs (approx.)

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons (30 grams) flour

3 tablespoons (45 grams) butter

18 oz (500 ml) beef stock

¼  cup (58 grams) sour cream / crème fraiche

salt and pepper to taste

Serve with pasta/ noodles or mashed potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400 F / 204 C.  Finely dice the onion.  Melt 1 T butter in a frying pan and add the onion.  Cook until soft.  Beat the egg and add in the nutmeg and salt to mixture, stir.  Add the egg mixture, onion and breadcrumbs to the ground beef in a bowl.  Combine with a fork or your hands.  Try not to over mix.  Form into balls (golf ball size).  Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. 

Over medium heat, add the flour and 3 T butter to the pan and whisk to create the roux.  Continue to whisk until it is the color of milky coffee.  Add the stock slowly (it is best to heat the stock so it is warm).  Add little by little whisking until all stock has been added.  Once incorporated, add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in sour cream/ cream fraiche.  Add the meatballs back to the sauce and let simmer while the potatoes/noodles are cooking 10/15 minutes.  Serve on their own or over mashed potatoes/noodles.