Swedish meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 slicewhite bread, crusts removed, torn up
• 3/8 cupwhole milk
• 1onion, very finely chopped
• 2 ozunsalted butter
• 10 1/2 ozground beef
• 10 1/2 ozground pork
• 1egg, beaten
• 3/4 tspground allspice
• 1/4 tspground nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 1/2 tspsea salt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1 1/2 ozall-purpose flour
• 2 1/8 cupsbeef stock
• 5/8 cupheavy cream
• 1 tspDijon mustard
• 1/4 ozfresh parsley, chopped, to serve

Method

1. 1

   Pour the milk over the torn bread and leave it to collapse. Meanwhile cook the finely chopped onion in a third of the butter until completely soft and translucent, then let it cool.

2. 2

   Mash the soaked bread smooth and mix it with both minces, the beaten egg, the cooled onion, the allspice, the nutmeg, the salt and the pepper. Roll into small balls about the size of a walnut.

3. 3

   Melt half the remaining butter in a wide skillet and brown the meatballs all over in batches, shaking the pan to roll them. Lift each batch out into a warm dish.

4. 4

   Melt the last of the butter into the browned pan juices, stir in the flour and cook it out, then add the beef stock gradually, whisking, until smooth. Simmer until it thickens.

5. 5

   Stir the cream and the Dijon into the gravy, taste and season, then slide the meatballs back in with any juices and simmer gently until they are cooked through and coated.

6. 6

   Scatter the parsley over and serve with mashed potato or boiled new potatoes, and lingonberry jam if you have it.