Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 1 large onion, finely diced (the smaller the better!)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 70 grams breadcrumbs
• 220ml whole milk
• 2 medium sized eggs
• 500g minced pork
• 500g minced beef
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds
• 1 teaspoon all spice
• 2 teaspoons crushed fresh black pepper

Sauce

• 6-10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 420g plain flour
• 800ml beef stock
• 50-100ml double cream
• 2 to 4 tablespoons of lingonberry jam (if not available raspberry or cranberry jam can be substituted)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment

• Copper Tri-Ply 28cm Frying Pan
• Knife for chopping
• Chopping board
• Electric mixer (desirable)
• Large mixing bowl or other large bowl
• Copper Base 16cm Saucepan for heating stock
• Turner or wooden spoon
• Slotted spoon
• Tray
• Clingfilm

Cooking Method

For the Meatballs

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large bowl mix the breadcrumbs and milk. Leave for 5 minutes for the breadcrumbs to soak up the milk.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the onion in the frying pan with the butter over a medium heat until the onions start to break down and are soft and translucent. This should take about 3-5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Add the remaining meatball ingredients to the bowl of milk and bread, and then add cooled onions. If you have an electric mixer, use this to beat all ingredients on low until smooth, then turn on high and leave for around ten minutes or until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
5. If you don’t have an electric mixer, use your hands and mix well until all ingredients are combined.
6. Measure about a tablespoon of the mixture and use wet hands to roll into a ball shape until all the mixture is used, putting them on a large oiled tray as you go. Cover the tray with clingfilm and put them in the fridge for 1 hour. The mixture should make around 40-50 meatballs.
7. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter reserved for the sauce over medium heat in a large non-stick frying pan being careful not to burn the butter. When the butter has melted, add some of the meatballs, however do not put too many meatballs in the pan at one time so allowing them space to brown. The meatballs are only browned at this stage as they will be cooked all the way through at a later stage.
8. Gently turn the meatballs being careful so that they don’t fall apart. Once they have been slowly browned all over, use a slotted spoon to move them onto a plate and repeat with second batch, adding remaining butter to the pan. Continue with this stage until all meatballs are browned keeping the butter left in the pan for the sauce.

For the Sauce

1. Slowly mix in the flour to the remaining butter mixture the meatballs were cooked in. Cook for 1 minute until it darkens slightly and then gradually add the warmed beef stock little by little, mixing constantly. Once all beef stock has been added, return the meatballs to the fry pan and allow to simmer on low for 10 minutes.
2. Remove meatballs from sauce and arrange them on a serving plate. Then add double cream and the lingonberry jam (or substitute) to the sauce and mix well. Either drizzle the sauce on top of the meatballs if serving as a main meal or put the sauce in a bowl to be served beside the meatballs in the case of a Smorgasbord or Swedish buffet.