Oh, I'm speechless. THIS made my entire week... I've been calling on the flavors of my childhood (I can remember Gramma H making her version of this dish quite often) and researching other flavor ideas so I could update it a bit.
Here's where I started...
In a large bowl I combined everything except for the bread crumbs...
... and I mixed it all up with the best tools in the kitchen!
With an ice cream scooper I made 1" balls, rolled them semi-tightly in wet hands (to prevent the meat from sticking to my hands) and then rolled them in panko bread crumbs...
... and started the assembling line process. Oh how I love the assembly line process. (Seriously - it makes so much sense to my brain!)
Several recipes I read said it was a good idea to chill the meatballs before baking them off. But I didn't (I simply didn't have the time)... and I think they turned out ok.
So, as they baked I moved on to the dill sauce...
We don't have fresh dill around here very often. But everytime I buy it I think to myself "Why don't I use this more?! It's so fresh smelling and yummy and kind of inspirational!"
It's easy to work with... you can just pull it right off the stem and there isn't even much chopping to do because it's so fine already. (And the freshness comes out even more once you chop into it!)
While I was thinking I chopped it up and put together all the players of the sauce...
The sauce comes together rather easily... starting with a basic roux.
Then I moved on to the other parts of the sauce... starting with chicken broth, a little at a time.
Once that was all incorporated I threw in the other ingredients... and gave it another whisk.
But then it was a little too thick for my preference, so I added a touch more chicken broth.
In the meantime... the egg noodles had finished cooking and the meatballs were done. So I started plating up...
Just LOOK at those beautifully crunchy and flavorful meatballs!!! And the house smells SOOOO good right about now!
Here you have it... egg noodles, with a little sauce drizzled on top. Add the meatballs and a little more sauce.
Oh HECK YEAH!
(pardon me... I've been looking forward to this all week!)
OR... you can just eat them like this...
The onions in the meatballs and that dill sauce compliment each other so well. And the CR-CR-CRUNCH on the outside of the meatball. WOW!
But don't take my word for it... try it for yourself! You can thank me later...
Swedish Meatballs with Dill Sauce
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
½ medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 egg
½ tablespoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
pinch ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups Panko bread crumbs
Dill Sauce
½ cup butter
1/8 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
Pinch ground nutmeg
Kosher salt/pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large bowl combine beef, onion, egg, allspice, nutmeg, salt/pepper and heavy cream. Mix until well combined. With wet hand, shape mixture into 1" balls. Roll balls in panko bread crumbs & place side by side in a shallow baking pan; cover & chill for at least 2 hours. You should have about 20-25 meatballs.
Bake at 375 for 30-35 min., or until brown - turn the meatballs after 15 min.
Melt half stick of butter in a large pan; stir in flour; gradually stir in broth. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, till sauce bubbles & thickens. Stir in sour cream, ground nutmeg and dill. Add kosher salt/pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
enjoy your time in the kitchen...
