For about 20-24 meatballs, you’ll need:
- 1 kg quality (stall free) pork, minced (to be ground)
- 4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp potato starch
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg (ground)
- 1/4 tsp ginger (ground)
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 organic pastured eggs (can be left out for egg-free version)
- 2,5 dl or 1 cup of milk (or milk alternative)
- Vegetable or chicken stock (organic and free from flavour enhancers)
The milk and the meat must have the same temperature (fridge cold).
- Start by grinding the mince. You can use any kitchen mixer with a blade, or you could ask your butcher to grind it for you.
- Once the mince is ground properly, you add the salt. Use your hands to work the salt through the meat. Once the meat has a nice, soft consistency you add the spices and the potato starch. Keep working the mixture like a dough (get in there!), then add the milk gradually once the spices and flour have been thoroughly worked through the meat. Add eggs (if applicable) and keep mixing. Make sure you mix the liquid in thoroughly before you add more, each time.
- Once the mixture is done, heat a frying pan and melt some good butter. Of course, if you don’t like to use butter you can opt out, but it really does give the meatballs a good flavour and a crispy crust.
- Form the meat into oval shaped balls, using a wet spoon and your hand. The balls should fit inside your fist, so not small like the Swedish version.
- As you shape the balls, you pan fry them on both sides until they get a nice brown look, but not all the way through. Lay the half cooked meatballs aside on a plate as you finish the batch.
- Boil vegetable or chicken stock in a large pot. Once the stock has reached boiling point, turn the heat down to simmer. Pop all the meatballs carefully, all at once, into the simmering stock. Make sure your pot is large enough to house them all at once with a bit of room for them to move around. Let the meatballs simmer (but not boil) for 10-12 minutes until they’re cooked all the way through. If your pot is large enough you will be able to tell that they are done by them floating to the surface. In a small pot you will have to cut through one instead.
- Before you serve them, pop them on a tray in the oven at 180 c for 15-20 minutes.
- They freeze well, and can be reheated from frozen on an oven tray.
Norwegian meatballs are best served with baked apples (which are heated along with the meatballs in the oven), roasted herb potatoes, sautéed brussels sprouts and lots of homemade lingonberry jam! We pick our own lingonberries in the mountains each fall, and make enough jam to last the year. Lingonberries are incorporated into many dishes and desserts, and we share this custom with our neighbours, the Swedes.
Can I use lamb instead of pork – we do not eat pork
My mother used half pork and half beef. Lamb has a more distinctive taste so it might make a difference. But try it. It might be good with that distinctive taste.
These sound like what I make but have never put them in broth…just make gravy and serve with mashed potatoes but Question: what is potato starch??
Potato starch is a white powder similar in texture to cornstarch
My mom never used pork. Always ground beef. Potential flour.
Those are the traditional meatballs (kjøttkaker), but the Christmas meatballs (medisterkaker) should be made with pork