When I was a child my diet was rather limited. I was so incredibly fussy with food that my dinner repertoire was limited to burgers, chicken nuggets, fish fingers and sausages. It’s pretty shocking in hindsight. But at the time my parents couldn’t get me to eat much else. At the same time I would eat no fruit or vegetables and my preference was for chips with everything. How I remained a skinny little girl is anyone’s guess?! But I was just not interested in food (that soon changed though, eh?!).
In order to get me to branch out from chips, my parents tried to get me onto other potato products such as waffles or croquette potatoes. For some reason, these were seen as a much healthier alternative to chips. And it worked! In the early 90s I was all about the croquette potatoes and waffles. Thankfully, for my health, I soon started to expand my diet and introduced more non-beige food into my life. Phew!
In a bid to bring a bit of childhood nostalgia into my life (and following yesterday’s 90s tag), and because I was rather curious about how they were made, I decided to experiment with making my very own croquette potatoes recipe. It’s a pretty simple recipe in terms of ingredients, but you do need to a little patience with the prep. Oh, and be prepared to get a bit messy!
Croquette potatoes are rather popular in Spain as a tapas dish. Sometimes they are stuffed with other ingredients such as cheese, ham, leftover vegetables from your roast dinner, or any leftover meats, in some recipes they use a thick bechamel sauce.
I chose to stick to the old-school version I knew as a kid and simply drizzled with a squeeze of fresh lemon and dipped in mayo.
Croquette Potatoes (serves 4)
- 250g Potatoes (floury variety is best), peeled and halved
- 3tbsp Plain Flour
- 2 Eggs, lightly beaten
- 60g Breadcrumbs
- Salt and Pepper, for seasoning
- Vegetable Oil, for frying
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 12-15 minutes until soft.
- Drain the water and allow to steam dry for 5 minutes.
- Use a potato ricer to help mash the potato. We need a completely smooth consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
- Place the flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls.
- Take a large heaped tablespoon of mashed potato and mold with your hands into a cylindrical shape (think the thickness of a berocca tube and about half the length)
- Gently roll the potato cylinder in the flour, shake off any excess before dipping into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs.
- Pop the completed croquette potatoes onto a clean plate whilst you prepare the rest.
- Heat a high-sided frying pan with vegetable oil on a very high heat. When the oil is almost smoking carefully add the croquette potatoes to fry for 4 minutes at a time, flipping over halfway, or until golden brown on all sides.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and rest on a plate covered in kitchen paper.
- Serve with a delicious helping of alioli, mayonnaise, sweet chilli sauce or a cheese dip.
Enjoy!
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