Swedish meatballs (köttbullar)

Ingredients

Meatballs (köttbullar)

• Beef mince: 500g

• Pork mince: 500g

• Egg: 1

• Salt: 1 tablespoon

• White pepper: 1/2 teaspoon

• All spice: 1 teaspoon

• Brown onion: 1/2 small brown onion, finely diced

• Cream: 100ml

Brown sauce (brunsås)

• Red onion: 1 medium sized onion, sliced

• Unsalted butter: 50g

• Brown sugar: 1 teaspoon

• Pinot Noir: 750ml 

• Beef stock: 1,000ml

• Corn starch: 2 tablespoons

Mashed potato (potatismos)

• Potato: ~1kg

• Unsalted butter: 200g

• Cream: 100 - 200 ml (to taste)

• Salt: To taste

• White pepper: To taste

Pickled cucumber (pressgurka)

• Cucumber: Half a continental cucumber, finely sliced

• Salt: 1/2 teaspoon

• Sugar: 4 teaspoons

• White vinegar: 2 tablespoons

• Water: 4 tablespoons

• Dill (fresh): 4 teaspoons, finely sliced

Serve with lingonberry compote/jam. Outside of Sweden, this can be found in a jar from speciality food stores.

Method

1. Pickled cucumber: Finely slice the cucumber and place in a clean jar. Add the remaining ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Meatball - preparation: 

• Finely dice half a small brown onion and sauté in butter (I use unsalted butter to help control the amount of salt). Let it cool.

• Mix the beef, pork, egg, salt, pepper and all spice. Add the brown onion and cream and mix thoroughly. 

• Refrigerate for at least an hour. 

3. Brown sauce:

   • Slice a medium sized red onion and sauté in 50g of butter for 10 minutes. Add the sugar and cook the onion until browned and caramelised.

   • Add wine and beef stock. Simmer until the volume has reduced by half. This will take approximately 30 minutes.

   • Mix the corn starch with ~3 tablespoons of water. Strain the brown sauce to remove lumps and the onion. Add the corn starch mixture to the brown sauce, mixing continuously as it is added.

   • Season with salt and pepper as required.

4. Mashed potato:

   • Put half a large pot of water to boil and add salt. 

   • Whilst the water is heating, peel the potatoes. Boil the potatoes until soft and drain the water. Leave on the stove for a couple of minutes to ensure the potatoes dry.

   • Mash the potato and add the butter. Mix until the butter has melted and been incorporated into the mash. Stir in as much cream as desired and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Meatball - cooking:

   • Take the meatball mixture out of the fridge and form into balls. 

   • Melt a little butter into a frying pan to melt. Cook the meatballs for ~15 minutes, turning them over occasionally to ensure they are evenly cooked and develop a nice brown colour.

   • You may need to do this in batches to ensure that the meatballs fry and not stew in their own juices. The difference in quality will be vastly different.

6. Serving the meatballs:

   • Serve meatballs with mashed potato, brown sauce, lingonberry compote (lingonsylt), pickled cucumber and salad.