Swedish Meatballs (IKEA style)

No need to pretend you’re buying furniture to buy the best meatballs anymore. With the lean pork mince and incorporation of veg, it’s a healthier alternative to the Ikea classics. The creamy mash is missed, but there’ll be time for that in another recipe.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

• Start by par-boiling the new potatoes for 5 minutes.
• While they are boiling, finely dice the onion and add to a mixing bowl with the mince, egg, 1 tsp of ground parsley and ½ tsp of all spice. Season with salt.
• Mix thoroughly with your hands and then divide the meat ball mix into approx 25 meatballs.
• At this stage, you can drain your potatoes and add them to a baking tray. Roughly cut them and toss in the asparagus.
• Roughly chop the fresh parsley and add half to the baking tray with the potatoes/ asparagus. Drizzle some olive oil and season with salt. Pop in the oven, timer set to 30 minutes.
• Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan and evenly coat. Turn up the heat and add the meatballs to the pan. Brown on each side, moving the meatballs every 3 minutes (about 3 turns) and then cover with a lid. They will be cooked after 15 minutes.
• Once they are cooked, remove them from the pan and set aside. Using the same pan, add 1 tbsp of butter and deglaze the pan.
• When the butter has browned add a tbsp of flour and stir into the butter. Slowly add the beef stock and simmer. Reduce the heat and stir in the creme fraiche and Worcester sauce.
• Once the sauce has thickened add the meatballs back in and stir.
• Serve up with the potatoes and asparagus, with a sprinkle of fresh parsley.