Swedish Meatball Pasta Bake
Ingredients
-
1 large egg
-
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
-
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
-
2 tablespoons milk
-
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
-
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
-
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-
1 pound 85% lean ground beef
-
1 tablespoon olive oil
-
8 ounces dried bowtie pasta
-
2 1/2 cups lower sodium beef broth
-
1 cup whipping cream
-
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
-
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
-
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
-
lemon wedges for serving
Directions
-
Gather all ingredients. Grease a 7x11-inch baking dish.
-
Lightly beat egg in a medium bowl. Stir in bread crumbs, onion, milk, salt, nutmeg, allspice, and cayenne pepper. Add ground beef and mix well. Shape 1 1/2 tablespoon portions of the mixture into meatballs.
-
Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. They won’t be done at this point, but will get done as they bake.
-
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to the prepared baking dish. Nestle meatballs atop the pasta.
-
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (190 degrees C).
-
Pour beef broth into the same skillet and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon. Pour in whipping cream and Worcestershire sauce to and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce has slightly thickened and reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 6 to 8 minutes.
-
Pour sauce over meatballs and pasta in the baking dish. Cover dish with foil.
-
Bake in the preheated oven until hot and bubbly, 20 minutes.
-
Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered until cheese melts, 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish with dill. Squeeze lemon wedge over the dish.
