Croquetas de Jamón
Spanish Ham Croquettes
A Spanish croqueta is not mashed potato. It is a thick, well-cooked béchamel, flavoured with a little chopped ham, chilled until it can be shaped, crumbed and fried. Done properly the shell is thin and crisp and the inside is almost liquid.
Every bar has them and every family claims the best. José Pizarro's method cooks the flour in butter for five minutes before any milk goes in, chills the mixture for at least two hours, crumbs the shaped croquetas and chills them again before frying at 190°C for two minutes.
The Spanish recipe read stirs the ham into the roux before the milk and cooks the sauce for 15 to 20 minutes, until a spoon drawn through it leaves a clear trail.
Ingredients
For the béchamel
- 85 g unsalted butter
- 115 g plain flour
- 625 ml whole milk, warmed
- 120 g jamón serrano, very finely chopped
- A grating of nutmeg
- Fine sea salt and white pepper
To coat and fry
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 200 g fine dried breadcrumbs
- 1 litre sunflower or light olive oil, for deep-frying
Method
- Cook the roux Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it smells biscuity but has not coloured. Stir in the ham.
- Add the milk Add the warm milk a ladle at a time, beating until smooth before adding the next. When it is all in, cook over a low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring almost constantly, until the sauce is very thick and a spoon drawn across the base leaves a clear trail. Season with nutmeg, pepper and a little salt; the ham is salty.
- Chill Scrape into a shallow tray, press baking paper onto the surface and cool. Chill for at least 3 hours, and overnight if you can, until firm enough to hold a shape.
- Shape and coat With lightly oiled hands, shape heaped tablespoons of the mixture into short logs. Dip each in beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs. Chill the coated croquetas for 45 minutes.
- Fry Heat the oil in a deep, heavy saucepan, no more than a third full, to 190°C. Fry four or five croquetas at a time for about 2 minutes, until deep golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.
Food safety
Deep-frying: never fill the pan more than a third full, never leave hot oil unattended and keep a lid to hand. Croquetas that are not well sealed can burst; make sure each is completely coated and cold when it goes in.
Coated croquetas freeze well. Fry them from frozen at 180°C for about 4 minutes.
If the mixture is too soft to shape, it was not cooked long enough. Return it to the pan and cook it down.