Meatballs with Cream Sauce
In the last few days, I took a trip to Ikea with my sister, recently moved up to the North East, and as well as a leisurely wander around, part of what we went for was the Swedish meatballs.
These lovely balls swimming in creamy sauce have had a special place in my heart since my children were small. I have such great memories of long wanders around the store checking out all the childrens items they’d like to have in their bedrooms.
Many a time I was persuaded to by cuddly toys or more tea sets, and my grandkids are now playing with those same items. Good times.
These long wanders led to long chats in the ikea café, with large plates of delicious meatball and chips.
Not any more.
When there with my sister, to my horror, those meatballs were substandard and not up to memory, which is why, I went to the shop to pick up some beef mince and got my recipe developer head on and made my own version.
Go on, give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Serve them straight from the pan
What You Need
Serve around 24
Meatballs
500g Beef Mince – With low fat content – Room temperature
100g Oven Dried Tomatoes – Chopped into rough pieces - See Tip Box
50g Fresh Breadcrumbs – See Tip Box
50ml Double Cream
1 Medium Onion – Finely chopped
1 Large Garlic Clove – Minced
¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
¼ tsp Mixed Spice
Good Grin of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Good Pinch of Malden Salt
Vegetable Oil for Frying
Fresh breadcrumbs for this recipe - see the tip box if you want to know how !
Sauce
500ml Beef Stock Made from 2 Beef Stock Cubes – Make it just before using so it’s still hot.
200ml Double Cream
80g Butter
60g Plain Flour
2tsp Worchester Sauce
2tsp Dijon Mustard
Good Pinch of Malden Salt
Good Grind of Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Chopped Parsley to serve - optional
My oven dried tomatoes for this recipe - Find the recipe here!
How It’s Done
Peel the onion and chop it as finely as your able – See Tip Box
Peel the large garlic clove and mince it – set it aside until needed.
Add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil to a sauté or frying pan.
Put the chopped onion into the oil, along with a good pinch of Malden salt, and bring it up to a low to medium heat.
Let it cook slowly until the onion becomes soft and translucent – Be patient it might take up to 10 minutes.
Add the minced garlic to the onions and on a low heat, let the garlic cook along with the onions for two minutes, stirring well a lot.
Once cooked, remove the mixture from the pan to a plate, and set it aside to cool.
Place the beef mince into a bowl along with the fresh breadcrumbs, the chopped tomatoes, the spices, double cream, the cooled onion mixture and a good grind of fresh black pepper.
Use your hands to mush it all together until everything is combined.
Get your hands in with these ingredients and mush them up.
Shape the meatball mixture into balls around the size of golf balls and out them onto a place until needed.
the balls should be around the size of a golf ball.
In the same pan used to cook the onion, add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil, and let it heat up in a low to medium heat.
Give the mixture a taste test – See Tip Box
Cook off a small amount of the mixture as a taste test. This is the time to adjust the seasoning.
Once the mixture has the right seasoning, time to cook the meatballs
Place the meatballs in the hot oil, and cook very gently (on a low to medium heat).
Turn the meatballs over as they cook so that each one has colour all over.
Don’t over crowd the pan, cook the meatballs in batches, removing them to a plate once they’re cooked.
Set them aside until needed.
Cook the meatballs in batches. Don’t ver crowd the pan.
Find a separate pan, wide enough to hold all the meatballs or clean to original pan to use that.
Place the butter into the new pan and on a low heat, let it gently melt.
Add the flour and whisk into the butter until smooth.
Let the mixture cook on a low heat for 2 minutes, stirring as you go so the roux mixture doesn’t burn.
Cooking the flour with the melted butter (a roux) for 2 minutes.
Add the hot stock to the roux and whisk over a low heat until it goes smooth.
Once smooth add the cream, Worchester sauce and Dijon mustard and give it a really good mix together.
A nice smooth sauce
Add all the meatballs to the pan, and let them simmer on a really gentle heat, a gentle heat so the bottom of the pan doesn’t burn.
Put the meatballs the sauce to finish cooking
When the meatballs are piping hot all the way through, it’s time to serve them.
Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley if using.
Serve with pasta, mashed potatoes or as I like them, sweet potato fries and peas.
Sprinkle parsley over the top to serve if you really want to.
Tip Box
Oven Dried Tomatoes – I used the tomatoes which I made myself, (Click here for the recipe for those) but if you want to use
Onions – I like to chop my onions just a little bit on the bigger side for these meatballs, not always the case, but I like the texture I get form larger pieces.
Fresh Bread Crumbs – 1) Fresh bread crumbs are the only kind to use in this recipe, packet breadcrumbs are way too dry to work well.
2) It’s really easy to make your own and once made, keep them in a freezer bag, in the freezer, taking out what you need when you need them.
3) To make the breadcrumbs, take some old bread, a couple of days old works well, and put it into a food processor. Give it a whizz and hey presto breadcrumbs.
Taste Test - Just before frying the meatballs, put a piece of the mixture into the hot oil and cook it. Once cooked, give it a taste. If you feel you need more salt and pepper, add more to the mixture.
A big pile of delicious balls
