Swedish Meatballs

I've not had Swedish Meatballs too often in my life. In fact, the only real memorable ones are from IKEA...OMG those are good.

These weren't as good. Don't get me wrong, they were good (a little salty - but that was my fault).

The recipe was simple and really could be adjusted for more than 4 people or less than 4.  The meatball recipe is very basic. If you weren't cooking for 4 people, you could make the whole recipe and freeze half the meatballs (uncooked) for another day.

Swedish Meatballs
Recipe from Rachael Ray
Serves 4

• 1 3/4 lb ground sirloin
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 c plain bread crumbs
• 1/2 small yellow onion, chopped
• A healthy dash or grating of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• ground pepper
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 c beef stock (here's where I made mine too salty, I used bouillon powder from Maggi and it was WAY too salty)
• 1 T red currant or grape jelly (i used more like 2 T)
• 1 c heavy cream (I used milk because that's what I had)
• 1/2 lb wide egg noodles (OMG these are awesome..they cook up soooooo fast)
• 2T butter
• 8 cornichons or 6 baby gherkins, chopped for garnish (I didn't even bother)

Place the ground beef in a large mixing bowl.  Add the egg, bread crumbs, onion, nutmeg and 1/2 of the parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix up the meatball ingredients, careful to not overmix.  Make meatballs of about 1" to 1.5" rounds. 

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil.  Add the meatballs and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Add the stock, jelly, and heavy cream.  Bring it up to a bubble, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Make your egg noodles according to the package directions. Drain them.  Put the noodles back in the pot add the remaining chopped parsley and butter; season with salt and pepper.  Stir until butter is melted.  Top the noodles with the meatballs and their sauce (and pickles if you're using them).