Swedish meatballs, seasoned with fennel seeds and cooked in a creamy sauce.  Ultimate comfort food.

If you’ve had a hard day and you’re feeling a little bit tired and emotional, in this house you get fed.  Comforting words, a hug (several actually) and a dinner that may or may not make you feel like a little nap afterwards.

This Swedish meatballs recipe is a blanket-around-the-shoulders type of dish.  A salute to autumn with  its blazing sunsets and lightening speed darkness. 

I serve it with French fries and a dollop of homemade savoury fruit jelly with a respectful nod to that well-known Swedish furniture shop as the combination works brilliantly.  It’s also a dish that I can make in stages throughout the day and have at hand for emergency healing and kind words otherwise known as dinner.

These Swedish meatballs are also good served with mashed potatoes or rice so it’s an all rounder of a dish.  I like that in a dinner.

Swedish Meatballs

For the meatballs:

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 slices bread, without the crusts, made into breadcrumbs in the food processor

500g pork mince

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 egg Oil for frying

For the sauce:

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves, crushed

300ml tin cider, or thereabouts

100ml double cream

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

Salt and pepper

Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Crush the fennel seeds until broken up and add these along with remaining meatball ingredients and mix until everything is well distributed.

Take some of the mixture and shape into 5cm balls and roll around your hands until smooth.  You don’t need to make too smooth but together enough to ensure it doesn’t come apart while it’s cooking.  Place each ball on a large tray and place in the fridge for minimum 30 minutes or longer if you want to get ahead.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large deep frying pan and turn down to medium and add the meatballs from the fridge.  Keep turning until nicely browned all over. Remove from the pan and place back on the tray you used before while you make the sauce. In the same pan, fry the onion and garlic until softened.  Add the cider and bring to a boil.  Keep at this heat for around 5 minutes so the alcohol cooks off and you remain with the cider flavour only. Turn down the heat to medium and add the cream.  mustard, stock cube and Worcestershire sauce. 

Sprinkle over the sugar (optional) and stir.  Season to taste and return the meatballs to the pan. Cook for 15 minutes so the meatballs are well cooked and serve with either fries, mashed potatoes or rice. Scatter over freshly chopped parsley.