Grandmother Anna’s way
OK, this site is called More than meatballs, and one of the aims I had when I decided to create it was to show the world that what we eat is more than that, but they’re eaten frequently in most families and all families have their own recipe – which they claim is the best.
This is my grandmother Anna’s recipe. She was a master cook, so obviously her’s is the very best!
Swedish Meatballs
As making a larger batch of meatballs doesn't take much longer than for just one meal, and they're suitable for freezing, I suggest that once you've tried the recipe and liked it you make double the recipe next time.To speed up the process, prepare the mince the night before or in the morning and let it sit in the fridge until you're ready to cook.
Ingredients
- 500 g mixed mince 70/30% beef/pork you can obviously use 100% beef
- 1 onion peeled and grated
- 100 ml milk I use full fat but any variety will do
- 50 ml bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar optional
- 3 tbsp butter if you opt for frying in a frying pan
- beef stock amount depending on the size of your pot.
Instructions
- Start by combining milk, bread crumbs, spices and egg in a bowl. Mix well and allow to thicken whilst you grate the onion.100 ml milk, 50 ml bread crumbs, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 1 tsp sugar, 1 egg
- Add mince and onion to the bowl and incorporate the mix. The trick here is to work quickly. You're not needing a bread dough. If you over-mix the mince it becomes thready and not so nice.500 g mixed mince, 1 onion
- Pour stock into your stock pot or saucepan to the depth of roughly 10 cm and bring to a boil. Whilst it heats up, dampen your hands with cold water and start rolling your meatballs. Size is up to your taste, but I prefer to weigh mine to 25 g to get them all the same size.3 tbsp butter
- Once the stock has been brought to boil, start dropping meatballs into it. Work in batches depending on the size of your pot. I use a large pot and usually cook around 20 at a time. When you pop the meatballs into the stock they will sink but float up to the surface as they cook. Once they have popped up, let simmer another 3-4 minutes depending on size, then lift out and set aside whilst you cook the rest.
- Once all your meatballs have been cooked in the stock you can either pan fry them, or - if you're a lazy sod, like me - put them on an oven plats and pop them in the oven until they're nicely browned.Do not throw away that stock! It makes wonderful gravy to serve with your meal, and any leftovers can be used for a broth the next day, or frozen for later.
Notes
Serve with boiled potatoes, mash, spaghetti or whatever side you want. Traditional Swedish meatballs, however, are served with mash or boiled potatoes, creamy gravy and lingonberries. I serve mine with grandmother Anna's cucumber salad.