Croquetas are a very typical Spanish dish. Delicious creamy béchamel bites breadcrumbed and fried. One of those seemingly simple but rather fiddly dishes that the Thermomix and a piping bag make a breeze. The mixture needs to rest in the fridge so it's best to prepare it the day before.
These are perfect tapas, perfect picnic fare, perfect with a salad for dinner, perfect for an office lunch… the possibilities are endless.
Thank you to Eva for putting me on to the idea of using porcini and referring me to this Spanish recipe for inspiration.
Thermomix Porcini Croquetas
Makes approx. 30, depending on the size
Ingredients:
For the mixture:
- 15 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 150 g unsalted butter, roughly cubed
- 30 g onion
- 200 g plain or spelt flour (I used spelt)
- 800 g whole milk, take out of the fridge about an hour earlier if chilled
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Black pepper, freshly milled
- Salt (I use Maldon sea salt), to taste but start with about a teaspoon or less
- A couple of disposable piping bags (or freezer bags)
For bread crumbing and frying:
- 2-3 eggs
- Breadcrumbs (if you ever have left over bread, always make breadcrumbs in your Thermomix and freeze them, you can use them from frozen)
- Olive oil (being Spanish this would be the traditional oil to use but you choose)
How to make the croqueta mixture:
1. Mill the porcini to a fine powder: 15 seconds, speed 10. Reserve.
2. Do not wash the bowl, add the 150 g butter and the onion: Varoma, 3 minutes, speed 4.
3. Add the flour: 100ºC, 3 minutes, speed 2.
4. Add the milk, the nutmeg, a few twists of the pepper milll and the salt: 10 seconds, speed 6.
5. Add the porcini powder: Varoma, 7 minutes, speed 4.
6. Pour the mixture in the piping bags and close tightly, leave in the fridge overnight (or for a minimum of 8-10 hours), overnight is best really (and usually more convenient).
How to fry:
1. Whisk the egg on a deep plate and place the breadcrumbs in another plate.
2. Snip the end of the piping bag and squeeze to get a few sausages onto the egg plate then cut them to your desired size, think that you ideally want to get 2-3 bites out of them, not more.
3. Heat up a good amount of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the croquetas over a moderate heat, turning them until they are golden all over. It won't take long.
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