Tender baked meatballs with a touch of nutmeg and allspice served in a rich cream sauce.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Swedish
Keyword: cream sauce, Meatballs
Servings: 6
Author: Adapted from The Best of Byerly's - A Recipe Collection
Ingredients
Meatballs
1cupminced onion
2tablespoonsbutterplus additional butter to grease baking sheets
1egg
1/2cupmilk
1/2cupfresh bread crumbs
1 1/4teaspoonsalt
1tablespoonsugar
1/2teaspoonnutmeg
1/2teaspoonground allspice
1 1/2pounds85% lean ground beefno leaner You can also use a combination of beef, pork and/or veal
Cream Sauce
1tablespoonbutter
3tablespoonsflour
2teaspoonssugar
1teaspoonssalt
dash pepper
1cupwater
3/4cuphalf & half
snipped parsleyoptional
Instructions
Meatballs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9 x 13 inch baking sheets with aluminum foil and generously grease with butter. Don't use cooking spray! The meat drippings create the roux for the sauce, so this butter factors into the sauce.
Saute onion on medium-low in 2 tablespoons butter, until tender (not browned), about 10 minutes. In bowl, combine egg, milk, crumbs and seasonings. Add meat and sauteed onions and mix well until well blended. Shape into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place on butter baking sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer meatballs to ovenproof serving dish or casserole.
Cream Sauce
Scrape drippings from baking sheets into a saucepan. If you don't have a good quantity of drippings, you can add a tablespoon of butter. Stir in flour, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt (I know it sounds like a lot, but trust me, it works) and pepper, to taste. Gradually whisk in water and half & half. Stir over low heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir for 1 minute. If making recipe a day in advance, refrigerate meatballs and sauce separately. Then gently rewarm sauce in microwave just until easily stirred.
Pour gravy over meatballs. Bake, uncovered in 325 degree oven for 20 minutes. If meatballs were made in advance and refrigerated, add 15-20 minutes extra baking time. Note - if you leave the meatballs in the oven any longer, because you're not yet ready to serve them, cover with foil and turn over down to 200 degrees to keep them warm.