Swedish Meatballs & Mash

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g 5% fat minced beef + 200 g minced pork
• 40 g breadcrumbs + 60 ml semi-skimmed milk (for the meatballs)
• 1 egg
• 1 brown onion (about 100 g)
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 tbsp plain flour (about 10 g)
• 1 beef stock cube + 300 ml hot water
• 100 ml light single cream
• 1 kg floury potatoes
• 140 ml semi-skimmed milk + 20 g unsalted butter (for the mash)
• 1 cucumber (about 300 g)
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar + 1 tsp caster sugar
• Salt, black pepper, nutmeg

🍴 Utensils

• Large frying pan
• Large pot
• Potato masher
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Peel the potatoes, cut them into evenly sized pieces and put them in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 to 25 min, until the tip of a knife slides in without resistance.
2. Meanwhile, peel the cucumber in alternating strips and slice it very thinly. In a bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, 1 pinch of salt and 2 tbsp water, add the cucumber and keep in the fridge: it pickles while everything cooks.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix the breadcrumbs with the 60 ml milk and leave to swell for 5 min. Peel the onion and grate it or chop it very finely. Add both meats, the egg, the onion, 1 level tsp salt, pepper and 2 pinches of nutmeg.
4. Mix by hand just enough to get an even mixture, without overworking it, or the meatballs will turn tough. With wet hands, shape about 30 walnut-sized meatballs (25 g each) and place them on a plate.
5. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs for 8 to 10 min, rolling them around regularly, in 2 batches if your pan is small, until well browned on all sides. Set aside on a plate.
6. Dissolve the stock cube in the 300 ml hot water. Lower to a medium heat, sprinkle the flour into the remaining fat and whisk for 1 min. Gradually pour in the stock, whisking to prevent lumps and to lift the browned bits from the pan, add the cream and leave to thicken for 3 min.
7. Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover and simmer for 5 min over a low heat: they finish cooking and should be firm, with no trace of pink in the middle. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon; if it's too thick, add a little water.
8. Drain the potatoes, mash them with a potato masher, then stir in the butter and the 140 ml warmed milk. Season with salt, add 1 pinch of nutmeg and whisk until smooth. Serve the meatballs coated in sauce with the mash and the drained cucumber.