← Nouns Cooking · Spanish

Ingredients

• 60 g Butter
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• ½ small onion, very finely chopped
• 100 g jamón serrano or ibérico, very finely chopped
• 75 g Plain (all-purpose) flour
• 500 ml whole milk, warmed
• 1 pinch Nutmeg, freshly grated
• salt and white pepper
• 50 g flour, for coating
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 100 g fine dried breadcrumbs
• 1 l sunflower or olive oil, for frying

Method

1. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the onion for 6–8 min until very soft but not browned, then add the ham for 1 minute.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 min, stirring, so it loses its raw taste. Add the warm milk a ladle at a time, whisking well after each addition.
3. Cook the sauce for 8–10 min over low heat, stirring constantly, until it is very thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Season with nutmeg, pepper and only a little salt.
4. Spread the mixture in a shallow dish, press cling film onto the surface and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until firm.
5. With lightly oiled hands, shape heaped teaspoons of the dough into small logs, about 24 in all. Roll each in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs.
6. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 180°C (350°F), filling it no more than a third full. Fry the croquetas a few at a time for 2–3 min, turning, until deep golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Tips

• Freeze the coated, uncooked croquetas on a tray and bag them up: fry straight from frozen for 3–4 minutes.
• If they burst while frying, the filling was too soft or the oil too cool; chill them longer and give them a second coat of egg and crumbs.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food Spain on a Fork