This isn’t your grandma’s recipe, but an interesting twist on an old stand-by. My first recollection of Swedish Meatballs came by way of an occasional outing to a family-style smörgåsbord in Michigan when we were kids. Their’s (and most others I’ve tried since then) had more of a sweet note, which as a youngster with a sweet-tooth suited me just fine—certainly not my preference today.

If properly and traditionally prepared, they are considered part of an authentic Swedish meal. But we weren’t going for authentic. The impetus for this recipe came via a house party invite with a request to contribute an hors d’oeuvre. Russ remembered Cook’s Illustrated ran a recent article on holiday appetizers, and he had an “ah-ha” moment when he happened upon their Swedish Meatballs recipe.

Usually when making meatballs, or meatloaf, one is instructed not to over-handle the meat. But in this recipe, along with the ones we recently made for the Italian Wedding Soup, the meats and spices are to be ground vigorously in a stand mixer producing substantial yet delicate meatballs with a sausage-like springiness.

To achieve the right texture, we followed their technique that combines beef, pork, bread, cream—and a surprise ingredient—baking powder, which keeps the meatballs delicate and juicy. Although to make them less sweet, we eliminated the brown sugar from the meatball ingredients altogether, and reduced the amount called for in the sauce. (The following ingredients reflect these changes.)

For the meatball gravy recipe, we emulated their light cream sauce instead of the traditional heavy brown gravy. To get this, you add a bit of cream to the stock to lighten it up and a splash of lemon juice for some bright flavor.

Keep your fingers and palms moist so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands.

Wait until all of your meatballs are formed before starting to cook them.

Keep a bowl of water nearby and dip your fingers after every two or three meatballs to prevent the meat from sticking as you form the balls. Another trick, when ready to start cooking, is to start near the skillet handle, arrange the meatballs in a clockwise spiral to keep track of the order in which they need to be flipped.

A 12-inch slope-sided skillet can be used in place of the sauté pan (use 1 1/2 cups of oil to fry instead of 1 1/4 cups.) The meatballs can be fried and then frozen for up to 2 weeks. To continue with the recipe, thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight and proceed from step 3, using a clean pan. Serve the meatballs with mashed potatoes, boiled red potatoes, or egg noodles, or simply as an hors d’oeuvre like we did.

BTW, “köttbullar” is the Swedish word for meatballs.

Ingredients

Directions

Instead of buying an entire loaf of gluten-free bread for just one slice (which we wouldn’t use the rest of) we thawed a roll from the freezer and removed the crust. The scraps went to the birdies.

After combining the bread and cream, use a fork to mash it until no large dry bread chunks remain.

An onion is grated on the large holes of a box grater.

In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat pork (and other meats, if using), onion, nutmeg, allspice, pepper, salt, and baking powder on high speed until smooth and pale.

Add bread mixture with ground meat and beat on high speed until smooth and homogeneous.

Arrange meatballs in hot oil in a spiral starting at the handle.

After a few minutes, start turning the meatballs over beginning with the one closest to the handle.

Remove all the meatballs from the pan to a paper towel lined platter.

When the foaming from the butter subsides, add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until flour is light brown.

Once the sauce is reduced to about one cup, stir in cream and return to simmer.

Finally, add meatballs to sauce and simmer, turning occasionally, until heated through.

Thanks to IKEA, Swedish meatballs are arguably the most well-known meatballs in the world. Initially they were only enjoyed by upper class Swedes but by the 1850s they were accessible to the middle classes as well. There are endless varieties with numerous sauces from white to dark brown and everything in between. So go ahead and try your (wet) hand at making this recipe!

Feeling a little bloated from a food hangover? Or just want to eat a little healthier in the New Year? I first saw this recipe when my sister Lolly posted the link on Facebook during Winter break. And I thought after all of the heavy, caloric food that’s been offered the past several weeks, this Lemon Chicken and Spaghetti Squash looked like a quick, healthy and delicious alternative. Had to get it on our upcoming meal repertoire ASAP!

Eager to try it, I got around to making it immediately after the holidays ended. In so doing, we incorporated our homemade turkey stock (we were out of homemade chicken stock) in place of commercial chicken stock. My guess is the dish may be too bland if you use packaged broth, but if you do, think about including some other spices and/or herbs of your choice to amp up the flavor.

A few other changes included adding some fresh cremini mushrooms, increasing the cherry tomatoes by about another cup, and decreased the baby spinach—only because our package weighed five ounces, not eight as the ingredients called for. Our two chicken breasts weighed in at 3/4 pound, which was plenty for two, with leftovers.

Cooked as instructed, the roasted squash came out perfectly! What a clever idea to “fork” the squash around the perimeter and then microwave for 5 minutes before you cut it in half. How come I never heard of this technique before?? I’m going to try this next time I roast an acorn squash too because they can be such buggers to try and slice open.

In a straight line around the perimeter, use a fork to make holes.

After microwaving for five minutes, cut the squash in half along the “forked” line.

Scoop out the seeds and fibers and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

Spread a little olive oil all over the cut side and season with salt and pepper. Make sure to turn the cut side down before roasting.

In addition, as toppers we sprinkled on some red pepper flakes (shocked, right?) and a tad of shredded parmesan cheese. I’m thinking some rendition of this will become a monthly dinner staple during the cooler months.

NOTE: To make it a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth and tofu chunks in place of the chicken.

Everyone loves Italian Wedding Soup including us, but when we stumbled upon this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated we were intrigued by the atypical aromatics of anise and fennel as opposed to the standard celery and carrots. And according to the original directions, the broth gets simmered with ground pork and beef for a savory note. Although our grocery store didn’t have ground pork so Russ picked up meatloaf mix which included veal, beef and pork.

Skipping the fuss of a typical brodo doesn’t have to mean sacrificing flavor. By doctoring commercial chicken broth, you get comparably rich-tasting results in under an hour. HOWEVER, after reading the instructions, we could not fathom the thought of throwing away the meat once the broth was done! Instead we used our own homemade chicken stock which added plenty of flavor on its own, along with some prepackaged beef stock.

For the meatballs, beating the ground meat in a stand mixer distributes fat and moisture evenly so they have a springy bite. Plus, a few umami-packed ­porcini mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce amp up the broth’s meaty flavor. Substituting kale for the usual escarole was a “feel-good-about-yourself” swap—and a tasty one at that.

Without any fresh oregano on hand, we incorporated the dried herb, which had been picked directly from our garden in the fall and dehydrated, so it was “fresh” dried. Since Russ ordered about 30 packages of gluten-free pasta shapes a few months ago through Amazon.com, we have quite a selection and one of them was ditalini!

NOTES:
It’s best to use a rasp-style grater to process the onion and garlic for the meatballs.
Tubettini or orzo can be used in place of the ditalini.
If you don’t eat, beef, veal or pork, make ground chicken or turkey meatballs.

Ingredients

Directions

The chopped fennel, onion, dried porcini mushrooms and bay leaf (we did not add meat to this step) are cooked for about 5 minutes.

Kale is sliced down into strips.

After all of the strained liquids are added to the pot and simmered for a half hour, the kale and pasta are added.

1. Heat onion, fennel, garlic, porcini, pork, beef, (we did not add meat in this step) and bay leaf in Dutch oven over medium-high heat; cook, stirring frequently, until meats are no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
2. Add wine and Worcestershire; cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth (homemade if possible), beef broth, and water; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

When forming the meatballs, it’s best if you keep your hands wet, so keep dipping your fingertips into a bowl of water and touch your palms with the wet fingers after every two or three balls.

We made the meatballs earlier in the day and placed them on a wax paper lined baking sheet, covered with saran wrap and refrigerated until ready to use.

Without searing the meatballs beforehand, they are added at the end until heated through.

1. While broth simmers, combine bread, cream, Parmesan, onion, garlic, and pepper to taste in bowl; using fork, mash mixture to uniform paste.
2. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat pork, baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt on high speed until smooth and pale, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed.
3. Add bread mixture, beef, and oregano; mix on medium-low speed until just incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Using moistened hands, form heaping teaspoons of meat mixture into smooth, round meatballs; you should have 30 to 35 meatballs. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
4. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer set over large bowl or container, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Wipe out Dutch oven and return broth to pot. (Broth can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Skim off fat before reheating.)
5. Return broth to simmer over medium-high heat. Add pasta and kale; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add meatballs; return to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until meatballs are cooked through and pasta is tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

The soup made for great lunches at work.

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Italian Wedding Soup