Homemade Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce

Tonight I really felt like Swedish meatballs. We used to enjoy the ones you can buy and reheat from IKEA, but when my food intolerances began we soon found we couldn't eat them any more.  The meatballs were fine, but the sauce mix they sell is loaded with MSG and flavour enhancers, which make my skin itch and gives me a pounding headache.  Very disappointing... That was until I discovered a recipe for Swedish meatballs on one of my favourite food blogs, Skinny Taste. So, so very happy and grateful to have found a homemade alternative! And the best part is, I think it tastes 100 times better than the IKEA version.  I couldn't eat their meatballs now, even if I didn't have food problems; their texture seems all wrong, like that used scopes of dog food (sorry IKEA!) and my sauce has so much more flavour going on.  I've tweaked the original recipe from Skinny Taste to suit our tastes and to the products I can use, but it's still very similar. You can use whatever you like, I've just used products that work for me.

My hubby and I like to serve this recipe with oven-cooked chips, but it's also delicious served with mashed potato or you could serve it with your favourite pasta.  Cranberry sauce, or the more authentic Swedish Lingonberry Sauce, is optional, but we find that the sweet fruitiness of the sauce is a nice contrast against the savoury meat and cream sauce. 

I think this would be a good family meal. You could totally serve the cream sauce over mashed potatoes, sweet potato, roasted pumpkin, peas and corn... whatever your family prefers. You could also sneak more minced/grated veggies into the meatballs to trick your pick eaters into eating something healthy. I'm thinking next time some finely grated carrot and zucchini would both bulk these babies out and make them even more nutritious.  Even without the extra veg, they're still pretty guilt free, with a serve of meatballs and sauce measuring up at around 323 calories per serve. 

Homemade Swedish Meatballs with Cream Sauce

Serves: 4 (approx 5-6 meatballs per person)

500g Coles 5 Star Beef Mince

1 cup homemade breadcrumbs or Panko

1 whole free-range egg

1 medium onion, minced

2 sticks celery, minced

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp allspice

1 - 1 1/2 Massel beef stock cube

1L warm water + 1/4 cup warm water

2 dessert spoons Philadelphia cream cheese spread, 80% fat free

2 dessert spoons cornflour

Start by putting your beef mince into a large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs (or Panko, your choice), egg, onion and celery, garlic and the allspice.  Time to get your hands dirty!  Roughly mix the ingredients together with your hands.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop up meatball mixture.  Split in half, so you have a 1/8 cup sized serve, and roll into a neat ball.  Arrange on a plate or cutting board as you go until all the meat mixture is rolled into balls.  The mixture should make about 18 - 22 balls. 

Raw meatballs bathe on hot beef stock...

In a large, high-sized frying pan, add your litre of water and stock cubes.  Stir gently to dissolve the stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to low and gently add your raw meatballs, one at a time, being careful not to splash yourself.  It's easiest to start from the outside of the pan and work your way into the centre of the pan.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.  Don't touch the meatballs during the cooking time or they may break apart!

No longer raw, but cooked and tender. Set aside while you finish the sauce.

Remove the meatballs from the liquid with tongs and set aside in a covered bowl to keep warm. Keep the beefy liquid on the heat.  Add the Philadelphia cream cheese spread and whisk into the liquid.  Mix the cornflour with the 1/4 cup of warm water and add to the cheesy stock mixture, and whisk in.  Keep on a low heat, whisking as the sauce begins to thicken.  Remove immediately when it reaches your desired thickness, and serve over your meatballs and choice of side.

Thick creamy sauce, infused with the herbs and spices from the meatballs.

Load up your plate and enjoy!

Cream sauce smothering the oven chips.

Sweet cranberry sauce to go with my savoury, tender meatballs. Yum!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

I was inspired to make this after reading a similar recipe on one of my favourite food blogs, Skinny Taste, a couple of weeks ago.  My hubby loved this, apart from the broccoli... he's not a big broccoli fan. But he was willing to forgive it's presence in his dinner this time after smelling the whole thing cooking.  He was near salivating, watching the timer count down!  

This recipe is filling, tasty and pretty healthy, being low in fat - I worked it out to be 344 calories per serve. I was not well organised today, so it was a juggling act to get everything cooked and ready to go together. But I'm sure you won't have that problem. I think this is a dish the whole family will love... even picky eaters because the veggies are hidden in the delicious sauce. It may seem weird to top with rice crispy cereal, but I love the extra crunchy texture this gives the dish!

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake

Serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil

400g chicken tenderloin or breast

4 cups of cooked pasta, such as penne or rigatoni

1 cup raw broccoli, chopped

2 tbsp light olive oil spread

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup frozen chopped onion

1 cup low fat milk

2 cups hot water

1 Massel chicken stock cube

30g shredded parmesan

1/2 cup shredded pizza cheese (tasty, parmesan, mozzarella blend)

1/2 tsp ground sea salt

1/2 ground black pepper

1/4 cup rice crispy cereal, crushed 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (fan-forced) To start off cooking, boil your pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and set aside in a bowl. 

Cut your broccoli into small bite-size pieces, including the stalks.  Boil in unsalted water until just tender. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop it cooking further, and set aside with the pasta. 

Brown chicken tenders or sliced chicken breast in a little olive oil over a medium heat.  Just until browned on the outside.  The chicken will finish cooking later in the dish.  If you're using chicken tenders, you can break them up into bite-sized pieces using a couple of forks at this point. Set aside.

Next, using the same large saucepan you used to cook your pasta and the chicken, melt the olive oil spread over medium low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of the salt, and sweat the onion until it starts to become transparent. Add the thyme and garlic and stir through.  Heat for a further minute or so.  

Take the pan off the heat and add the plain flour.  Stir this through the melted olive oil spread to start making a roux.  It should become a clumpy, gluey dough-like mixture. Return to low heat, stirring for a minute or so to cook out the floury taste. Add milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, and whisk together to prevent lumps.  You should end up with a thick white sauce.  Crumble in the chicken stock cube and stir, then add 2 cups of hot water, one at a time, whisking in between to prevent lumps.  You should end up with a thinner very chickeny flavoured white sauce.  Add the parmesan and about half of the pizza cheese, and stir to help it mix through as it melts into the sauce. My hubby got very excited at this point!

Now we begin to assemble to dish... Add the pasta and broccoli to the white sauce mixture.  Stir, then add the chicken and mix it through gently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Then pour into a baking dish. Top with crushed rice crispies and the remaining pizza cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the top has gone golden. Serve and enjoy!

The finished dish

Full of juicy chicken and broccoli...

...and rigatoni smothered in a creamy cheesy-chicken sauce.

Homemade Meat Lovers Pizza, Including Pizza Dough

So, yesterday my hubby decided he wanted pizza for dinner, which was all good with me because I'd been craving pizza for about a week! We just used our favourite meats, but you could put any topping you like on yours.  Sliced chicken breast, bacon, onion and pineapple with a barbeque base is a nice alternative, or you could throw all your favourite vegies on there. My dough instructions are for a bread machine, but if you don't have one, check out my notes at the bottom of this post to find out how to make pizza dough without the aid of a machine.

Pizza Dough

4 cups of bread flour

1 cup luke warm water + extra 1/2 cup

1 tsp dry yeast

1 tsp white sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 olive oil

1 tsp dried Italian herbs

Put ingredients into your bread machine according to your machines instructions. Mine calls for the liquid first. Put in a cup of water, then the flour and other dry ingredients on top.  Set to a dough only setting and start mixing.  Check it as it goes.  Depending on your flour you may need to add more water.  I've been using Wallaby brand flour, which seems to need more water. But check it and see how you go. If the dough looks too dry and crumbly and not coming together, then add a bit more water, about a tablespoon at a time. With my dough, it sounded a bit sticky after the water went in (by that I mean it was making squidgy noises as it was mixing!), but came together perfectly in the end. You might find you need to get in there with a spoon to make sure everything comes together when you're adding the water... sometimes dough just needs a little encouragement, you know.

The completed dough...

Once your machine goes BEEP to let you know it's done mixing and proving your dough, turn it our onto a floured bench top. Divide into equal parts.  We like thin crust and get four large bases out of this mix. If you prefer thick crust, you could just divide it in half to make a thicker base. 

Divide by pinching to two, then pinch those into two again and so on.

Once you've divided it up, it's time to get your rolling on!  The trick to rolling out even shaped and sized pizza dough is not to move the rolling pin all around.  Instead, turn the dough and keep rolling straight ahead of you. It sounds like such a little thing, but it works. 

When the dough has reached the right size and thickness it's time to line your pizza tray.  Flour the tray with a little flour before putting your pizza base down... but not too much, you don't want your pizza to taste floury! Take a fork and gently make holes evenly over the base.  I find this helps to stop it getting big air bubbles in the base when it bakes.  Then you've come to the creative part... adding your toppings! Yay!! 

The finished rolled out base. Time to get cooking!

Meat Lovers Pizza Toppings

Makes enough for 2 large pizzas

4 tbsp "pizza" tomato paste (we use Leggos "Pizza" sauce with garlic and herbs)

1 cup cheese (any shredded cheddar or tasty blended with mozzarella works well)

100g shaved leg ham

4 thin slices parma ham (also known as prosciutto)

50g thinly sliced chorizo

50g thinly sliced pepperoni

Assembly is pretty much as you would imagine...  Start by gently spreading the tomato paste over the base with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle on most of your cheese.  Then arrange your meats.  We start by tearing up the ham first.  Then add the sliced chorizo.  Add the rest of the cheese.  Then we finish by tearing up the parma ham and adding the pepperoni.  

Topped with cheese, ham, chorizo, parma ham so far...

And now with some spicy pepperoni to give it a little kick!

Bake in a moderate oven, around 180 degrees Celcius, for about 15 minutes. We ended up with a crisp base and perfectly golden toppings.  Slice up and enjoy!  

The finished product!

Now doesn't that look delicious? All crispy and golden and full of meaty, cheesy goodness...Ready for nomming!

** Note** We're lucky enough to have a bread machine to do all the work for us in making the dough.  Even if you don't have a machine you can still make this.  You'll just have a little more work ahead you... Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until it comes together as a rough dough. It works best if you use your hands to mix.  Then tip it out onto a floured bench top and knead away until glossy smooth. This is done by pushing the dough away from you with the heel of your palm, then bringing it back to you, turning the dough as you go.  Then put into a bowl, cover with cling wrap and a put it somewhere warm to rise for an hour to an hour and a half. Near a sunny window, but not in direct sun, is good.  The dough should double in size.  Knock it down a bit, divide up and start rolling out your base.  Easy!  If you're still a bit confused how it works, check out YouTube, there'll be an awesome tutorial video of how to make dough by hand.

If you can't find bread flour at your local supermarket, don't stress.  You can use ordinary plain flour.  The only difference is bread flour is ground a bit finer.  But the results shouldn't be too much different.

If you're having a pizza party with friends or family making their own individual pizzas, then you could divide the dough up into eight to ten smaller bases. Same if you have children who want to help you cook their own pizzas.  

Also, you can freeze what you don't want to use immediately by putting it into individual snap-lock bags.  Just defrost in the refrigerator for a few hours before you want to use it.  We used half the dough now and froze the other half this time. If you're storing for a party or to use as smaller bases for one person, you could roll the dough out ahead of time and store in the fridge or freezer between layers of grease proof paper wrapped in cling wrap. It should keep happily in the fridge for a day or so, and in the freezer I find it's fine for about a month (mind you, it never stays in there longer than that at our house!!). 

If you're curious any specific products I used in this, just ask me. : )

Homemade Cottage Pie

This recipe is something I threw together on a whim to see if I could replicate the Maggi Cottage Pie mix that Hubby used to enjoy.  Hubby said the meat mixture I made was beautiful and was so good he'd be happy to just have it on toast anytime.  That's a pretty big compliment from Mr Picky!  The potato is smooth and creamy, while the meat mixture is rich, lightly spiced and slightly tangy.  And I don't know about you, but I find making mashed taties very comforting and theraputic after a hard day!  A hearty meal for a cold night, and one that both young and old will enjoy.

Homemade Cottage Pie

Homemade Cottage Pie

Serves: 6

Mince:
1 tbsp olive oil
500g heart-smart beef mince
1/2 cup frozen peas, carrots and corn
1/2 cup frozen chopped onions
1 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 cup water
3 tbsp Massel Supreme gravy powder
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt + a pinch
1 Massel beef stock cube

Potato:
5-6 large potatoes
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup low fat tasty cheese (for topping)


To cook mince:
Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Over a medium-low heat, add onions. Sweat but do not colour.  To stop onions browning, add a pinch of salt. Add minced garlic. Stir into the sweating onions. Add mince, cooking until browned.

Turn heat up to medium. Add tomato paste and stir through the mince and onion mixture. Heat through to "cook" the paste. Add the canned tomatoes, mixed vegies, salt, pepper, dried thyme leaves and paprika, and stir again.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes.

Add water and crush up the stock cube as you add it in.  Stir into the tomato mince mix.  Add the gravy powder one spoon at a time, cooking in between. This will help thicken the mince mixture. Cook for another 5 minutes, until thickening, then remove from heat.

To cook potato:
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. 

Peel and chop the potatoes into even sized chunks. Cook until fork tender.

Take off the heat and carefully drain off the hot water.  In the warm saucepan add butter or margarine to the hot potatoes.  Add half the milk and start mashing!  Add more milk as you go to make a nice smooth mash.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Using a whisk, whip your mash until it's light and fluffy and completely smooth. 

To assemble to the meal:

Pour the mince mixture into a ovensafe baking dish. Gently spoon the potato mash over the top of the mince, and spread out with a fork.  Spread it out as rough as you like - some spikey bits with make for a nice crispy texture on top. Spinkle with tasty cheese, and bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius (fan-forced) for 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden and melted.  

Baked and golden...

And deliciously ugly, hehe.

*Note* I was a little naughty with mine this time. I was in a hurry and in the dish pictured I used Edgell instant mashed potato to top the mix.  All previous times I have used real mashed potato, which always tastes a million times better!  But this is a handy option when you're pushed for time, and the Edgell instant mash at least tastes fairly close to real thing when you add milk, butter and a little salt and pepper.