Swedish Meatball Pasta Bake

Name: Swedish Meatball Pasta Bake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 1 and 1/4 cups plain panko bread crumbs; 4 tablespoons butter; 2/3 cup yellow onion, finely chopped; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice; 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg; 3 cloves of garlic, minced; 2/3 cup milk; 2 eggs; 1 pound ground beef (I used 85/15.); 1 pound ground pork; 3 tablespoons oil; 2 cups shell pasta; 6 tablespoons butter; 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour; 4 cups beef broth (I used low sodium, equivalent to a 32 ounce box.); 1/2 cup water; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped; 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1 tablespoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

21 steps

Prep:30minCook:1h

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 11:30:24 GMT

Ingredients

6 servings

Instructions

Directions for the Meatballs

Step 1

Add the panko bread crumbs to a large bowl and set aside.

Step 2

In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter.

Step 3

Add the finely chopped onion, salt, pepper, allspice, and nutmeg and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir often.

Step 4

Add the minced garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.

Step 5

Turn the heat down to low/medium, and add the milk. Stir everything together and bring it to a simmer.

Step 6

Once the onion mixture has come to a simmer, pour it from the pan into the bowl of panko bread crumbs and stir everything together. The mixture will be very thick. Set this bowl aside to cool.

Step 7

In a separate extra large bowl, add the eggs and beat them.

Step 8

Then add the ground beef, ground pork, and cooled onion mixture. Mix everything together. (It’s gross, but it’s easiest and quickest to do using your hands.)

Step 9

Form about 30 balls and then chill them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Step 10

Once the meatballs are done chilling, in a large skillet over medium heat, heat up the oil.

Step 11

Add the meatballs to the skillet in batches and cook them until they are browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Batches made it so the pan wasn’t over crowded which made flipping them and seeing when they were done easier.

Step 12

Transfer the meatballs to a dish and set them aside.

Directions for the Pasta

Step 13

Cook the pasta al dente according to the directions on the box, drain it and add it to a 9 x 13 oven safe baking dish.

Directions for the Sauce and Assembly

Step 14

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (This is not part of the sauce steps but you’ll want the oven preheated by the time you are done with these steps.)

Step 15

Place the meatballs into the baking dish, nestling them into the pasta.

Step 16

In a large skillet on medium heat, melt the butter.

Step 17

Add the flour, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes.

Step 18

Stir in the beef broth, water, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and bring it to a simmer. Stir often.

Step 19

Reduce the heat to low/medium, and add the parsley and heavy cream. Stir everything together constantly and cook it until it thickens, about 10 minutes.

Step 20

Carefully pour the sauce over the meatballs and pasta.

Step 21

Bake the Swedish meatballs, pasta, and sauce in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.