Swedish Meatballs

Meatballs a popular dish throughout Scandinavia they even appear on their open sandwiches. Swedish meatballs a simple but absolutely delicious and make a good weekday meal accompanied by new potatoes tossed in a little butter. I like to make a serve my meatballs with a simple cream sauce prepared by just adding a little stock to the cooking pan with cream.

Wine Recommendation: Syrah based wine from the South of France should work well. See The Mixed Case for details.

Swedish Meatballs

Portions: 6 Portions

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 300g beef mince (lean)
  • 300g pork mince (lean)
  • 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
  • pinch of grated nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 150ml double cream
  • freshly ground black pepper and maldon salt
  • 3 tbsp butter

Sauce

  • 100ml lamb or beef stock
  • 200ml double cream

To Serve

  • boiled new potatoes tossed in butter
  • braised red cabbage
  • or green vegetable of your choice eg. Savoy cabbage

Method

  1. Meatballs: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat. Add the onions to the pan and sweat them for 2-3 minutes until they are transparent an soft. Remove the onions from heat and allow them to cool.
  2. Place the mince in a bowl with the onion, parsley, nutmeg, flour, salt and pepper and cream. Beat the mixture together with a wooden spoon until is firm and the ingredients are well combined. Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  3. Remove the mince from the fridge and form it into round balls with damp hands. Place the meatballs on a floured tray and cover them with cling film and refrigerate until ready to cook.
  4. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a moderate heat. Place the meatballs in the pan and cook them for 4-5 minutes on each side so that they are brown and cooked through. Remove the rissoles from the pan and serve or keep them warm until ready to serve.
  5. Sauce (optional): Add the stock and cream to the meatball cooking pan. Increase the temperature to high and simmer the sauce for 3-5 minutes. Serve or keep warm until ready to serve.
  6. To Serve: Serve the meatballs with a little sauce (optional) with new potatoes and red cabbage or vegetable of your choice.