My stomach is growling writing this and I have been eating Swedish meatballs for four or five days now and I still want them…which is good news since there are still SO MANY in my refrigerator. I’ve had them with pasta, potatoes, stirfry, a salad, cold, hot…

For a solo Valentine’s Day, I decided to do a nod to one of my favorite solo trips I took a couple summers ago to Stockholm. Absolutely fell so hard for that city and its food and haven’t had Swedish meatballs yet, which should really be a crime. This recipe is slightly adapted from The Kitchn.

A friend gave me a crazy rainbow disco light bulb this weekend which of course I had turned on as fuschia for Valentine’s Day. It definitely gives a special glow to food photos…

Swedish Meatballs

Made about 24 meatballs. If you really like sauce, double the sauce bit as it doesn’t make too much.

• For the meatballs:
• 12oz. ground beef
• 12 oz. ground beef/pork blend (or just ground pork)
• 3/4 c. breadcrumbs
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1 egg
• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

• For the sauce:
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. butter
• 3 T. flour
• 2 c. beef broth
• 1/2 c. half-and-half
• Black pepper

1. Combine all meatball ingredients in a bowl and roll into ping pong ball sized portions.
2. Heat 1 T. of oil and 1 T. of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add meatballs in batches, browning all sides. Once meatballs are browned all over, remove from pan, and do the next batch, adding more oil and butter if needed.
4. Once all meatballs are removed, sprinkle flour over the oil/butter remaining in the pan. Stir until smooth, about a minute.
5. Add in the beef broth and whisk until smooth.
6. Return the meatballs back to the pan with the gravy and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. You may turn the heat down to about medium for this step, as you don’t want the gravy boiling like crazy.
7. Remove the pan from heat and gently stir in the half and half into the gravy, around the meatballs.
8. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.