Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs
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A Little Personal History:

What can I say, I may have been born in NYC yet my heritage is Swedish. Here’s our family favorite for meatballs! Note: There’s nothing dietetic about this dish ?

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Chef Lars
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
  • 1 cup fresh bread crumbs dried out
  • ½ cup milk
  • 6 Tbs unsalted butter (3 Tbs for seasoning mixture 2 Tbs for browning, 1 Tbs for sauce)
  • 4 shallots minced
  • 1 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seeds toasted and ground
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • ½ pound ground pork
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 handful parsley chopped, plus more for garnish
  • 1 handful fresh dill chopped
  • ½ teaspoon brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • cups chicken stock turkey stock or broth
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • ¼ cup lingonberry sauce cranberry sauce or red currant jam, plus more for serving
  • ¼ fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 pounds Bow-tie Pasta optional
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
  • 1 cup fresh bread crumbs dried out
  • ½ cup milk
  • 6 Tbs unsalted butter (3 Tbs for seasoning mixture 2 Tbs for browning, 1 Tbs for sauce)
  • 4 shallots minced
  • 1 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seeds toasted and ground
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • ½ pound ground pork
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 handful parsley chopped, plus more for garnish
  • 1 handful fresh dill chopped
  • ½ teaspoon brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • cups chicken stock turkey stock or broth
  • ¾ cup sour cream
  • ¼ cup lingonberry sauce cranberry sauce or red currant jam, plus more for serving
  • ¼ fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 pounds Bow-tie Pasta optional
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Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, combine ¾ cup of the bread crumbs and the milk; stir with a fork and let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Mince shallots and garlic on cutting board. Transfer to ramekin. Add caraway seeds.
  3. Put 3 Tbs of the butter in a small skillet and melt over medium heat. Don’t allow to burn.
  4. Add the shallots, garlic, and caraway mixture. Saute until softened but not browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to mixing bowl.
  5. To shallot mixture add egg, parsley, dill, brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and ginger; season with salt and pepper. Whisk thoroughly.
  6. Put the ground beef and pork in a large mixing bowl and add shallot, egg and seasoning mixture.
  7. Squeeze the milk out of the soaked bread crumbs, add bread mixture to the meat & seasoning mixture. Mix everything well using your hands. If you don’t like messy fingers use powder free sanitary gloves. Regardless, wash hands or gloves in water retaining some moisture on your hands.
  8. Pinch off about a ping pong ball size worth of the meat mixture and roll it around in your moistened hands to shape it into a meatball. Continue forming the meatballs and transfer them to a platter; there should be about 40 meatballs.
  9. In a large mixing bowl, add remaining ¼ cup dried breadcrumbs (add more if needed) roll meatballs till lightly coated. Transfer back to platter.
  10. In a large deep dish skillet or pan, melt 2 Tbs of the butter over medium heat. When the foam starts to subside, add the meatballs in batches so you don’t overcrowd the skillet. Saute the meatballs until well-browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove the meatballs to a platter lined with paper towels as they are done.
  11. Once all meatballs are browned, discard all but 2 Tbs of fat from the skillet and return it to the heat. Add the remaining 1 Tbs of butter and swirl it around to coat the pan.
  12. Sprinkle in the flour, and stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve into the fat. Saute for 5 minutes till the roux has a “nutty” aroma.
  13. Slowly pour in the chicken broth, and stir with a wooden spoon to loosen the bits from the bottom of the pan. Simmer and stir until the liquid is reduced and a sauce starts to form; season with salt and pepper.
  14. Reduce heat to medium low and fold in the sour cream.
  15. Fold in ¼ cup of the lingonberry sauce until fully integrated .
  16. Return the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through, about 15 to 20 minutes.
  17. Transfer meatballs to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve the Swedish meatballs with additional lingonberry sauce on the side.
  18. Optionally, you can serve meatballs over bow-tie pasta sprinkled with chopped parsley and lingonberry sauce on side.
Recipe Notes

Advanced Preparation:

  •  Steps 1-6 can be done a day in advance and rolled meatballs can be refrigerated in sealed container.
  • Steps 7-14 can be done day off event. Transfer sauce to a sealed container an and refrigerate if necessary until ready to re-heat, over medium low heat, before adding meatballs for final preparation.

Tips, Notes, and Variations:

  • Of course you can substitute cranberry sauce instead of lingonberry sauce but why would you (unless you just can’t find the latter).