Swedish Meatballs with Yogurt Gravy on Pasta and Carrot Ribbon Noodles

To download a copy of the recipe for Swedish Meatballs with Yogurt Gravy, click HERE.

To download a copy of the recipe for Pasta and Carrot Ribbon Noodles, click HERE.

There are many reasons why someone would want to make Swedish Meatballs. They’re easy, yet remarkably versatile, working just as well as an appetizer as they do when served as a main dish. Their signature spice blend takes flavors American cooks usually use only for cookies and shows they work just as well applied to a hearty, savory dinner. Then they’re paired with a creamy gravy instead of a vegetable-based sauce. The main reason to make Swedish Meatballs, though, is the simplest as well as the most important: they taste good.

The most authentic Swedish Meatballs are often served with lingonberry jam and pickled cucumber. While it’s possible to get nearly any ingredient on the Internet with enough advanced planning, I try as much as possible to cook with things that are available easily, locally and on short notice. With that in mind, I chose instead to serve the meatballs over noodles dressed up in one of my favorite ways, mixed with “noodles” made of thin-sliced carrot ribbons, cut to size and steamed to the same texture as the pasta noodles. (Click HERE to read more about that.) It’s a great way to add color, flavor and nutrition to your egg noodles.

Some additional Cook’s Notes before we begin:

• Although beef and pork combinations are normally used when making Swedish Meatballs, other meat combinations are possible. (Insert your favorite Ikea joke here.) In this recipe I reduced the fat by using a combination of ground turkey and turkey sausage meat. For same reason, I’ve also replaced the traditional heavy cream or sour cream in the gravy with non-fat yogurt.

• As with any meatball, getting the flavor right is a fairly straight-forward matter; the real challenge is getting the texture right. The ingredients must be there in the proper proportions, of course, but it also requires a light touch. Forget everything you learned packing snowballs; the goal here is delicacy. You can mix the meatball ingredients using either a stand mixer (with the paddle attachment), or by hand; if you use your hands, remember to mix, not squeeze.

This recipe makes 4 – 6 servings.

You’ll need the following ingredients:

*For the meatballs: Turkey bacon: two thick slices, or 3 – 4 thin slices 3 Tbsp butter substitute, divided; 1 medium onion, fine diced; 2 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks; ¼ cup of skim milk; ¾ lb. ground turkey; ¾ lb. turkey sausage meat (removed from casings); 1 egg substitute egg; 2 tsp kosher salt; ½ tsp black pepper; pinch garlic powder; ½ tsp all-spice; ½ tsp ground nutmeg.

*For the gravy: 3 Tbsp AP flour; 2 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth; ¼ tsp garlic powder; ½ cup fat-free yogurt.

*Other ingredients for serving: 2 Tbsp dried parsley; cooked noodles with carrot ribbon noodles (download separate recipe).

To start the recipe:

Cook the bacon in a skillet until slightly crisp. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

When cool, dice into small pieces.

Next, prepare the meatball mixture:

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter substitute in the skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent and slightly softened, about 4 minutes, scraping the bacon leftovers from the pan the onions cook. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

While the onions are cooling, combine the bread and milk in a large bowl. Let the bread absorb the milk for several minutes.

Add the bacon, onion, ground turkey, turkey sausage meat, egg, salt, pepper, pinch of garlic powder, allspice, and nutmeg.

Using a light touch, gently mix the ingredients using a stand mixer or by hand for several minutes until a sticky mixture forms. (Remember: mix, don't squeeze!)

To form and cook the meatballs:

Using wet hands to keep the meat mixture from sticking to them, form the meat mixture into 1-inch balls. As you form each meatball, set it aside on a sheet of foil.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium heat. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding the skillet, brown the meatballs on all sides, for 8 – 10 minutes. After all of the meatballs have been browned, set them aside till needed. Retain the liquid in the skillet.

To prepare the sauce:

Sprinkle the flour into the liquid in the skillet and whisk constantly, scraping the pan, and cook for about a minute until the floury taste is cooked out.

Slowly whisk in the broth until the mixture is smooth.

Add ¼ tsp garlic powder. Cook until the mixture starts to boil and thicken, about 3 minutes.

Strain the liquid into a bowl and discard the solids.

Return the liquid to the skillet and whisk in the yogurt over low heat. Season to taste.

To finish cooking the meatballs:

Return meatballs to the skillet and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

To serve:

Place some noodles on the plate. Put meatballs on top of the cooked noodles, top with some sauce, and garnish with parsley.

To download a copy of the recipe for Swedish Meatballs with Yogurt Gravy, click HERE.

To download a copy of the recipe for Pasta and Carrot Ribbon Noodles, click HERE.

Hope you enjoy this hearty, delicious – and reduced fat! – meal. And that you’ll visit again next week for another kitchen-tested recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Shrimp Risotto a la Sushi

To download a copy of the recipe for Shrimp Risotto a la Sushi, click HERE.

In spite of how it might sometimes appear, I don’t set out to make recipes that are a little bit strange. Sometimes they just happen. This week’s recipe is not only a unique way to serve risotto; it’s a whole new way of looking at it.

The basic idea is this: prepare your risotto as you normally would, along with some shrimp and asparagus. Only this time, roll the risotto around the shrimp and asparagus in the style of sushi. (Risotto’s starchy texture makes it a natural for doing this.) To add to the effect, use steamed spinach to replace the nori (seaweed) often used to wrap sushi; and use pesto and marinated carrot ribbons to replace the wasabi sauce and pickled ginger that are normally on a sushi plate. (Depending on your sense of theatrics, you may want to plate it in a sushi-type container and provide chopsticks as in the photo at the top.) It’s a great way to change up your risotto and keep it so interesting for your family that you might even find yourselves talking to each other at the dinner table!

Some Cook’s Notes before we begin.

• As you’ll see in the recipe, you don’t need a bamboo sushi mat to make the risotto sushi. Parchment lightly sprayed with cooking spray will serve our purpose.

• Rolling the sushi is not difficult, but it helps to watch any of the many good tutorial videos available on You Tube.

• While it’s possible to cook and serve the carrot ribbons without marinating them, I wanted to represent the cleansing acidity of the pickled ginger normally served with sushi. For this reason, the marinade itself has a little extra vinegar when compared to typical vegetable marinades.

This recipe makes four meal-size servings.

Let’s start by making the risotto:

Warm 4 cups of fish stock or vegetable stock in a saucepan over low heat.

Put 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté the 1 green or red bell pepper and 1 small onion, both finely chopped. When they are cooked through, and 4 minced garlic cloves and cook until aromatic, about another 30 seconds to a minute.

Add 1 cup of Arborio rice and 2 Tbsp of chopped, fresh oregano, and cook for 2 – 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add ¾ cup of dry white wine (Chardonnay or similar) to the sauté pan and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Add the stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly and waiting till the liquid is absorbed before adding more. (Constant stirring helps release the starches in the rice. This gives the risotto its signature creamy texture and is an important part of the risotto method.)

When all the broth is absorbed, remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in ½ cup of shredded or grated parmesan till the cheese is completely incorporated, and add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Next, we’ll make the marinated carrot ribbons:

Wash and trim 3 or 4 large carrots, and cut them in half length-wise. Using a wide peeler on the flat side of the cut carrots, slice each carrot into ribbons. Cut the long ribbons in half so that all the pieces are 3" - 4" long.

To make the marinade, combine 1/3 cup of white wine vinegar; 1 minced garlic clove; ¼ cup chopped fresh basil; and 2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano in a small bowl. Drizzle in ¾ cup of olive oil while whisking rigorously till the marinade has a smooth consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place the carrot ribbons in a sealable plastic storage bag, and add the marinade. Let the carrots marinate while you continue with the rest of the recipe.

While the carrots are marinating:

If using the spinach, place one pound in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket. Steam the spinach till cooked through. (This should only take a few minutes.) Drain well and set aside.

Place ½ pound of fresh asparagus in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Cook the asparagus until cooked but firm. Set aside.

Place one pound of peeled, uncooked shrimp in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp through, using skewers soaked in water to make turning them over easier. Be careful not to overcook them. When done, set the shrimp aside.

Use the same pan to cook the marinated carrots to desired doneness.

To assemble the risotto “sushi”:

Place half of the risotto on a sheet of parchment, lightly sprayed with cooking spray.Place another sheet of lightly sprayed parchment on top of the risotto and roll it out to a rectangle about 7” x 9”.

If necessary to get a good rectangle, cut away some of the rolled risotto and locate it where needed to make the rectangle.

If using the spinach, spread half of the spinach evenly over the top of the risotto.

If using the spinach, put the sprayed parchment back on top and turn the assembly over together as a unit, so that the spinach is now on the bottom surface of the risotto rectangle. Remove the top parchment sheet.

Place half the asparagus and half the shrimp along the middle of the rectangle.

Lifting the parchment sheet, carefully roll the risotto sheet around the shrimp and asparagus filling.

Press down to seal the risotto.

Carefully remove the parchment sheet. Slice the rolled risotto into 1-1/2” pieces.

Repeat the above steps with the other half of the risotto, asparagus, shrimp, and optional spinach.

If desired, place the risotto “sushi” pieces on a baking sheet and warm in a 350 degree oven. (In the photo, you'll see I made half of mine with the spinach wrap, and half without.)

To serve, place three of the pieces on a dish with ¼ of the carrots and 2 Tbsp pesto.

To download a copy of the recipe for Shrimp Risotto a la Sushi, click HERE.

Now that’s food that’s fun and delicious!

Hope you’ll come back next week for another great tasting recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)