Swedish Meatballs: IKEA who?

I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I live and abide by IKEA. Their $6 cloth bins have revolutionised the way I view book storage.

As seen in my 8-9 (10?) cooking highlights on Instagram, I have made Swedish meatballs many times with just about any types of egg noodles or potato mashes to change things up. I can't lie, the pressure is rather immense, considering my boyfriend grew up in Sweden. Read this over. Funny enough, I don't think of Sweden when I prepare them, because whenever we go, René's step-mother (a Korean-chef-superstar) prepares us food from her homeland and I categorically refuse to leave the house.

Today, I wanted to show you a very simple version (because knowing myself I will post an intricate, 20-picture and 78-step recipe in the coming weeks). Here is the easiest way to make Swedish meatballs (and I made the bread crumbs myself so buy them and you're in business- we're talking minutes). No noodles thrown into the pan moment where you amaze the household, simply the meatballs, their sauce and whichever starch you chose to cook as their bed. This is just a reminder that on a cold, cold night, it isn't that hard to make a warm and hearty meal!

You will need,

Breadcrumbs (1/3 cup)

or, just grab a slice of fresh bread and cut it up in tiny pieces- to which you will need to add milk as it will soak up more liquid

Milk (1/2 cup)

Egg (1)

Garlic (2 cloves, minced)

Salt and pepper

Parsley (2 tbsp, minced- then keep some for garnish!)

Yellow onion (1, chopped)

Ground beef (1 lbs)

Butter (1 tbsp)

Olive oil (2 tbsp)

Nutmeg (a pinch)

Worcestershire sauce (1 tbsp)

(Some people also add a pinch of ginger or allspice)

For the potato mash,

Salt and pepper

Yellow potatoes (4-5, peeled and chopped)

Milk (1/4 cup)

For the sauce,

Butter (4 tbsp)

Flour (3 tbsp)

Beef broth (2 cups)

Milk (1 cup)

4 spices (1/2 teaspoon)

Worcestershire sauce (1 tbsp)

Dijon mustard (1 tbsp)

Optional: Lingonberry jam, for serving

A few steps,

1.In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, nutmeg, onion, garlic, pepper, salt and egg. Mix until combined.

2. Roll the mixture into meatballs (it should be roughly 12-15). Sprinkle with black pepper.

3. At this point, you can either pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes and set them aside or, in a large skillet over medium heat, use the olive oil to cook them by turning them every 2 minutes until cooked through (browned).

4. For the sauce, you need to melt the butter and flour in a pan over medium heat and whisk until it turns brown. You want to make sure there are no clumps left.

5. Then, slowly stir in the beef broth and milk.

6. Add Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard and bring to a simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. You will slowly see it and smell it coming together.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. I like to use a spoon to scoop some of the sauce and throw it over the meatballs.

9. Sprinkle generous, copious amounts of parsley.

10. Serve over mashed potatoes, which you flatten to create a bed for the meatballs.