Swedish Meatballs (Svenska Kottbullar)

Submitted by ElizabethKnicely

"Our family's traditional Christmas recipe, frequently doubled and kept warm in a crock pot. Worth the effort, and the meatballs are even better the next day! Reserve brown gravy and add sour cream to it the day you serve the leftovers."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 slices day-old white bread, crumbled
• 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2⁄3 lb ground beef
• 1⁄3 lb finely ground pork
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1⁄8 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1⁄4 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, as needed
• 3 cups beef broth, as needed
• 0.5 (8 ounce) container sour cream

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Place the bread crumbs into a small bowl, and mix in the cream. Allow to stand until crumbs absorb the cream, about 10 minutes. While the bread is soaking, melt 1 teaspoon of butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until it turns light brown, about 10 minutes. Place onion into a mixing bowl; mix with the ground beef, ground pork, egg, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger. Lightly mix in the bread crumbs and cream.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Pinch off about 1 1/2 tablespoon of the meat mixture per meatball, and form into balls. Place the meatballs into the skillet, and cook just until the outsides are brown, about 5 minutes, turning the meatballs into a baking dish, pour in chicken broth, and cover with foil.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the meatballs are tender, about 40 minutes. Remove meatballs to a serving dish.
5. To make brown gravy, pour pan drippings into a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the pan drippings until smooth, and gradually whisk in enough beef broth to total about 2 1/2 cups of liquid. Bring the gravy to a simmer, whisking constantly until thick, about 5 minutes. Just before serving, whisk in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve the gravy with the meatballs.