Midweek Supper: Swedish Meatballs Recipe

This dish was inspired by Ikea.

Now there’s a line you don’t read very often.

I’m sure we’ve all stood in the Ikea cafeteria, gazed wearily up at the menu board and pointed with a pencil-flattened finger tip to the meatballs submerged in creamy sauce.

Not having the faintest pin-drop of Swedish blood in my veins (more Spanish Armada than Vikings longboats in our house), I consulted the interweb for proper instructions. Whereupon I found that much like Irish stew, there about as many different recipes for Swedish meatballs as there are Swedish mammies. So I blended, mostly from Jamie Oliver, somewhat from places like Food.com.

This is a great way to mix up the traditional midweek / after-school supper of spaghetti bolognese – similar preparation time and ingredient cost, but a very new flavour. Cheap, easy and something a little bit different.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 300g lean ground beef
• 300g ground lean pork (there were none in the late-night supermarket I visited, so I squished sausages instead!)
• 1 cups breadcrumbs
• 1.5 cups rich beef stock
• 2.5 cups cream / crème fraîche
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk (and a little extra for the flour)
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• Chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Lightly fry the onions in a drop of olive oil until softened.

2. Tip cooked onions into large bowl, add breadcrumbs, milk, egg, pork, beef and all seasonings, including some of the fresh parsley.  Combine thoroughly and divide mixture into small individual meatballs (Jamie Oliver has a fancy schmancy way of doing this, but personally, I don’t believe it’s rocket science to make a number of similar-sized balls….) Remember, the smaller they are, the quicker they’ll cook.

3. Bring a glug of olive oil to a medium heat on a deep bottomed pan and fry all the meatballs (in batches if necessary) until fully browned on all sides.

4. Remove meatballs and set aside.  Deglaze the same pan with a cup of hot beef stock, stirring well to pick up any tasty bits of the meat (if you’re entertaining, you might want to strain this before putting back in the pan).

5. Add to this 1 tbsp of flour mixed well with a little milk.

6. Stir in 2 cups crème fraîche or double cream and bring to the boil before lowering heat and allowing it reduce gently. Season well with black pepper and salt.

7. Return the meatballs to the pan with the gravy and ensure dish is piping hot.

8. Garnish with remaining parsley and serve over mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, or like I did, freshly cooked pasta.  If you’re passing by Ballymun, pick up a jar of Lingon berry jam in Ikea, if not Jamie reckons a little bit of blackberry jam or cranberry sauce should do the trick instead.