Swedish meatballs with egg noodles (kottbullar)

These meatballs are spiked with herbs and spices, and served in a creamy sauce over ribbons of egg noodles topped with sweet, tart lingonberry jam. A Swedish staple, meatballs are often served with mashed potatoes instead of noodles.

Credit: Feast magazine / Chris Chen

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 400 g thick-cut egg noodles or linguine
• Lingonberry jam (see Note), slightly warmed, to serve

Meatballs

• 2 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn
• 60 ml (¼ cup) milk
• ¼ cup chopped dill, plus extra, to serve
• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra, to serve
• 250 g minced pork
• 250 g minced beef
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ½ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra, to grease

Creamy sauce

• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 300 ml beef stock
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) thickened cream
• ½ lemon, juiced

Chilling time 1 hour

Instructions

To make meatballs, place bread in a bowl, pour over milk and stand for 5 minutes.

Place chopped herbs in a large bowl with pork, beef, egg, allspice and nutmeg. Gently squeeze excess milk from bread, then add to meat mixture. Season with salt and pepper, then using your hands, combine meatball mixture. Grease a large tray with oil. Using wetted hands, roll mixture into 28 2 cm-diameter meatballs. Place on prepared tray, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to firm.

To cook meatballs, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, cook meatballs, turning, for 10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Wipe out pan and use additional oil, if necessary, between batches. Transfer to a large plate and set aside.

To make sauce, add flour to same pan over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until pale golden. Gradually stir in stock and cream, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 4 minutes or until thickened.

Cook noodles in boiling salted water according to packet instructions. Drain.

Meanwhile, add reserved meatballs to sauce, stirring gently. Simmer for 5 minutes or until meatballs are warmed and sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Divide noodles among 4 shallow bowls. Top with meatballs and sauce, dollop a few teaspoonfuls of jam over meatballs, and serve scattered with extra herbs.

Note

• Lingonberry jam is available from Ikea, select delis and specialist food shops.

Photography Chris Chen

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.