We asked Chef Henri Alén for tips on how to make the perfect meatballs. A detail that you should pay attention to when choosing minced meat turned out to be essential.
Top chef Henri Alén gives his tips for making meatballs. Pete Anikari
When making meatballs, it matters what kind of minced meat package you choose from the store. Alén recommends ground beef with enough fat.
– The best mass is obtained if you buy fatty mincemeat, at least 15 percent, says Alén.
So if you feel that the meatballs you make yourself easily become too hard, the reason may be that you are using meat that is too lean. However, if you want to make meatballs with low-fat minced meat, according to Alén, you should add soaked breadcrumbs or hardened bread to the mass, which make the meatball fluffy. Alternatively, you can add a small amount of sour cream to the meatball dough.
Alén advises to mix 400 grams of minced meat with one egg and a tablespoon of cream and to season the mass with salt and pepper. When rolling the meatballs, it’s good to pay attention to not making them too small.
For baking, Alén uses a two-part technique, where the buns are first baked in the oven and then transferred directly to the hot pan. Any sauce is only added when the meatballs have a crispy frying surface in the pan.
– You get a much more browned taste in them, Alén says.
Meatball spaghetti and Godfather
Alén prepares a variety of side dishes and sauces to go with the meatballs. Brown sauce goes well with traditional meatballs, but meatball spaghetti made with tomato sauce is also one of Alén’s credit recipes.
– Sometimes I make an absolutely freezing bowl of meatball spaghetti, sit on the sofa and watch Godfather.
To make a quick tomato sauce, Alén recommends using pureed tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes, which Finns prefer, which, like crushed tomatoes, do not need to be stewed.
– In Finland, they don’t really know how to use it yet, but in Italy, all quick sauces are made from passata and not crushed, Alén says.
The Italian gimmick is also very suitable for making a quick meatball spaghetti, although according to Aléninka, it is not an authentic Italian dish, but rather an American recipe.
Meatballs are the best when you use minced meat with enough fat. Wind Lindgren
Simple is delicious
In traditional minced meat recipes, such as meatballs, minced meat sauce or meatloaf, Alén sticks to simple spices. Salt, pepper and possibly a pinch of ground allspice are great for seasoning ground meat.
– In my opinion, they are the most important, Alén says.