Vegan Swedish Meatballs

I have been watching a lot of Nordic Noir a genre of crime fiction from Nordic countries, .  This began a couple of years back when British TV was failing to excite in the evening (as I am not into costume drama, reality shows and celebrity nonsense).  It began when we decided to order a Box Set called The Killing, the original TV Series and we have not looked back watching.....  

Recently we have seen Modus and now Valkyrien, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Well this leads me to dinner. 


I have been wanting to make Swedish meatballs for a while with the vegetarian sausage mix.   Also as its beginning to get icy cold here in Wales, I have been wanting to eat food that sticks to your ribs, food that is a little more textual too. I have found sausage mix  to be a handy ingredient in the kitchen and not just for sausage rolls.  I adapted a Swedish Meatball recipe and made it suitable for vegans and vegetarians.  I hope you like.

In case your wondering, why on earth is the sauce so white, well I forgot to add a dash of Tamari or Soy Sauce towards the end, hence why it is so creamy white.  Regardless, it was no biggy, the dish was good and made for pleasant change.  It is not unlike Mushroom Strogonoff, which happens to be another firm favourite in our home. 

Vegan Swedish Meatballs
Serves 6
Ingredients
Homemade or Ready made Swedish meatballs for 4 people
OR
175g of vegetarian Sausage mix
2 teaspoon dried dill
Good scraping of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Method
In a large bowl, stir sausage mix and the spices.
Then carefully pour in 250ml - 300ml cold water, stir well to combine and then let it sit for 30 minutes to thicken.
Set aside.
Form into meatballs and set aside.

For the Sauce
40g butter or vegan alternative
1 small onion, peeled and finely minced
40g plain flour
1 pint vegetable stock
1 tablespoon Tamari, vegan Worcestershire Sauce or 
100ml soured cream or vegan alternative
2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
Method
in a wide pan, heat the margarine and stir in the onions and cook until soft, then stir in the plain flour and whisk quickly to combine to make a thick paste.
Then stir in the stock slowly to make a thick roux, keep whisking until all the stock is used and the sauce is beginning to thicken.  
Reduce heat and stir in the Tamari sauce, mustard, soured cream and simmer gently. 
Season to taste.
Carefully stir in the meatballs.
Garnish with dill.
Serve immediately
Adapted from this meat based recipe for traditional Swedish Meatballs,  though I am sure if I looked hard enough I would have found a recipe in my cookbooks.