TAPAS RECIPE:

Serrano Ham Croquetes

This recipe has been around for generations in Spain, little wonder it is still going strong as these croquettes are the best I've ever tasted. Although the dish is a little time consuming to make, it can be prepared a day in advance and brought out at the last minute for cooking. In fact one of our local restaurants, only serves home made croquettes as the locals can tell the difference and won't eat anything else!

You will need:

100g Serrano Ham
75g plain flour
75ml extra virgin olive oil
1 litre milk
Salt
Nutmeg (optional)
2 eggs
Breadcrumbs
Olive oil (for frying)

How to cook:

• Chop the ham into small pieces

• Warm the milk

• In a frying pan, but not on the heat, mix the flour with the oil and very slowly add the warm milk stirring all the time.

• Place the pan over a medium heat and add the ham, a pinch of salt and a pinch of nutmeg. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and begins to come away from the edges of the pan.

• Transfer the mixture into a square dish and leave to cool.

• When the mixture is cool, cut into equal sized pieces.

• Mould the pieces into oval shapes and dip each piece into the beaten eggs and then roll in the breadcrumbs.

• Heat the olive oil in a pan (you need enough oil to cover the croquettes) and fry until golden brown.

Note:

You can use a variety of fillings for example prawns, salmon, chicken, vegetables . . .