But pasta isn’t Swedish, you say. Well, no. We usually associate pasta with Italy, but it’s actually documented to have been eaten in Sweden for centuries. The first time it’s mentioned is in 1658, when it was served with grated Parmesan at the royal courts, and it was very much an upperclass fashion. A hundred years later the fashion for eating pasta had spread out to the merchant classes and Cajsa Warg, the Swedish answer to Mrs. Beaton, lists a recipe for creamed macaroni in her book Hjelpreda I Hushållningen För Unga Fruentimber (“Guide to Housekeeping for Young Women”) from 1755.
In the 1930’s spaghetti served with ragu started being served in restaurants, and by the 50’s it had wormed itself into the homes, never to disappear.
So, what’s special about “köttfärssås” and what separates it from your average Bolognese sauce? Not much, if anything, actually. What is, however, very Swedish is the way it’s served in most homes – covered in lashings of ketchup. Food snobs may sneer at the notion publicly – but I swear to you, in the privacy of their own kitchen, away from prying eyes, they smother their pasta in lashings of the red goo, just like the rest of us.
Mince meat sauce - Köttfärssås
Ingredients
- 500 g minced beef moose can be used
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic or to taste, optional
- 2 tbsp oil olive, sunflower, rapeseed. You may even use butter, lard or vegetable shortening.
- 3 carrots medium to large, grated
- 800 g chopped tomatoes tinned works fine
- 50 ml tomato purée
- 500 ml beef stock
- black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- herbs fresh or dried oregano or basil, to taste
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven, or very large skillet, sweat the onion and garlic until translucent in the fat od your choice.
- Add the mince and brown it.
- Add grated carrot, tomatoes, tomato purée and 2/3 of the beef stock.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- You can serve the ragu after simmering for about ten minutes, but for best result, let simmer for at least two hours, occasionally stirring and adding more beef stock if needed.
- About ten minutes before taking the ragu off the heat, add the herbs.
Notes