IKEA-style Swedish meatballs

You really like these at IKEA, so I attempted to make them at home. You were less convinced - probably due to the fact they came with rice, rather than chips!

The recipe's adapted from one on the Good Food website. You'll need:

400g pork mince
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
85g breadcrumbs (you could make them fresh, but I just used some from the freezer, without defrosting)
1 egg, beaten
a good slosh of olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
500ml chicken stock (I used a stock cube, as I'd run out of anything more exciting)
a large handful of dill, finely chopped
salt and black pepper

First of all, you need to make the meatballs - that's the fun part. Chuck the mince, onion, breadcrumbs, egg and dill in a bowl, and squidge everything together. Shape into small balls - this made about 35-40 small ones (they tend to brown and cook faster, but you could go large if you like - just allow a little longer).

Heat a good slosh of olive oil in a large frying pan, and brown the meatballs over a reasonably high heat . You'll probably need to do this in 2 or 3 batches, unless you have an enormous frying pan. Take them out once done, and store them on a plate.

Remove any debris from the frying pan (there's inevitably a few bits of onion left lurking), and add the butter. Let it sizzle for a few seconds, and then sprinkle on the flour. Stir, and leave to cook for a couple of minutes - it'll turn gloriously brown, and take on the flavours of the meatballs. Season with salt and lots of black pepper.

Slowly and carefully whisk in the chicken stock - I did this in 3 or 4 stages, to avoid any lumps. Simmer until the sauce has thickened, then add the meatballs back in. Cover the pan with foil, and leave for 10-15 minutes, until the meatballs are completely cooked all the way through. You'll probably have to add a little more water/stock so the sauce doesn't turn to sludge.

We ate this with some rice, and some spring greens/broccoli doused in lemon and olive oil.

Meatballs

It was an afternoon of biscuit making, followed by some squidging about of raw meat. It doesn't get much better than that.

I borrowed this from Nigella's How to Eat (her section on kids' food is excellent), and adapted it so it tasted a bit less mousse-y.

This makes lots and lots of meatballs - I'd say enough for 4 grownup portions and at least one toddler.

500g mince (I used pork mince)
a couple of slices of bread, turned into breadcrumbs in the blender (actually, I've no idea if it was only a couple of slices - I found a bag of breadcrumbs in the freezer that I'd made a couple of months ago from the ends of the loaf)
some flat leaf parsley, chopped and chopped until it's very small
one egg, beaten
salt and pepper
an ounce or so of parmesan cheese, grated
a little flour

Stick the breadcrumbs, mince, parsley and egg in a bowl, and squidge them all about till they're mixed nicely. Add the salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Mix wildly again.

Shape the mixture into little balls (you loved this bit), and roll in a little flour (you need two plates at this point - one with a little bit of flour on it for rolling, and an empty plate to put the finished meatballs on).

Drizzle a little olive oil in a frying pan, and then brown the meatballs in batches, turning them carefully.

We had our meatballs with some rice and a tomato sauce - essentially the pizza sauce I normally make with a tin of tomatoes, a chopped onion and some herbs. Once I'd browned the meatballs, I dropped them into the tomato sauce, which had been simmering for 15 minutes or so. I then left the whole lot to simmer for another half an hour (adding a little extra water along the way now and then, so the meatballs had lots of liquid to cook in), until the meatballs were completely cooked.

They were quite possibly the best meatballs I've managed to make.