Swedish Meatballs

Each week I ask my lovely Swedish boyfriend what he would like for dinner the next week. Normally he doesn’t have a preference so I just go ahead and make whatever I am in the mood for/have the ingredients for, but this week he asked for Swedish meatballs. I had to oblige.

We have a tradition where we hit up IKEA in early December to get wrapping paper and decorations and special Swedish Christmas groceries. We always have meatballs when we are there, and they taste GOOD. So my aim was to recreate our winter IKEA tradition (yes, it’s August, I KNOW).

These tasted AMAZING. Really, truly, one of the best things I have made all year. I will make these for years to come, and I’m really excited about that.

Makes approx. 24 meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 55g breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp dill (I could only find dried, FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS)
• Salt and pepper
• 400g pork mince
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 250ml beef stock
• Mashed potato and lingonberry jam, to serve

Method

Begin by making the meaty little morsels.

Dice the shallot, and add it to a medium sized bowl. Tip in the breadcrumbs (I just took some sliced bread and whizzed it in the food processor until I got the consistency I wanted), the egg, the dill and the seasoning.

Add the mince and mix the whole thing together. I’m not particularly squeamish so I find it easiest to mix the whole meaty pile together with my hands.

Once combined, form into little meatballs, and aim to make them about the size of a walnut. I got 24 out of my mixture. Keep them roughly even but don’t stress about it.

Now, heat the oil in a pan and fry off the meatballs. I did mine in two batches. Remove after about 15 minutes of frying, when golden and cooked through.

Fry..

Fry, my pretties!

To the pan, add the butter and melt. Stir through the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk through the beef stock and bring to a simmer. When thickened, stir back in the meatballs and allow to heat through.

Serve with mashed potato (traditional) or fries (what my boyfriend prefers). Lingonberry jam on the side is optional except if you’re Swedish. Then it is mandatory (and delish!).