Ham croquetas

Ingredients

• Serrano ham — finely diced150 g
• Butter60 g
• Olive oil2 tbsp
• Onion — very finely chopped½
• Plain flour100 g
• Milk — warm700 ml
• Nutmeg1 pinch
• Eggs for coating2
• Breadcrumbs150 g
• Oil for frying700 ml
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Melt the butter with the olive oil, soften the onion until translucent, add the ham and warm it for a minute so the fat renders into the pan.

   6 min

2. 2

   Add the flour and cook, stirring, for four or five minutes, until it smells nutty and just begins to colour.

   5 min

3. 3

   Add the warm milk a ladle at a time, stirring smooth before the next goes in. Cook for ten minutes more, until the mixture pulls away from the sides.

   15 min

4. 4

   Season with nutmeg and salt, spread into a dish two centimetres deep, press cling film onto the surface and chill for at least four hours.

   240 min

5. 5

   Shape cylinders with wet hands and coat in egg then breadcrumbs. For a sturdier shell, do the coating twice.

   20 min

6. 6

   Deep-fry at 180 °C for two minutes in small batches. A crowded pan drops the temperature and the croquetas drink oil instead of crisping.

   10 min

About the dish

Croquetas are béchamel, not potato. Everything is decided at the sauce stage: it has to be thick enough for a spoon to stand in, and never taste of flour.

The flour is cooked in the fat for several minutes, until it smells nutty. Under-cooked flour leaves the raw taste that gives home croquetas away against bar ones.

The chilling is long and not optional: four hours minimum, better overnight. A warm mixture will not shape and bursts in the fryer, which is the usual reason they fail.

Worth knowing

• — The milk has to be warm. Cold milk into a hot roux gives lumps that never come out.
• — The mixture looks too loose in the pan; that is correct, it sets in the fridge. Adding flour to thicken it is how the flavour gets ruined.
• — Shaped croquetas freeze well raw and fry straight from frozen, just a minute longer.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

480 kcal

Protein

18 g

Fat

30 g

Carbs

34 g

Useful for this recipe

• Oven Temperature Converter

More from Spain

• Paella valenciana — Rice in a wide pan with chicken, rabbit and beans. It is never stirred once, and the crust on the bottom depends on that.
• Spanish tortilla — A thick omelette of potato and onion, where the potato is not fried but poached in oil until it is nearly a purée.
• Gazpacho — A cold tomato soup blended with bread and oil into an emulsion — that is what makes it thick rather than watery.