I love Spanish tapas. A big classic I can't get enough of is jamon croquetas, small ham and bechamel finger-shaped delicacies. When I came across an appetizing fish version on one of my favourite French blogs, I went straight to the kitchen to try it. In no time the four of us were stuffing ourselves with those addictive little delights. The purée pairing was a brilliant inspiration, I had to warn Adele she would turn into Shrek if she didn't stop helping herself.
Fish croquetas with lemon pea purée
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Recipe by: Adapted from lovely French blog Le confit c'est pas gras Busy:30 min, Total prep time: 50 min (plus 2 hours or overnight setting if you have time) Serves: 4 |
Prepare a thick bechamel sauce: In a thick-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Keeping the saucepan on the heat, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Stir for a minute or two until the flour is well blended. Add the milk little by little, whisking the mixture as you do it to prevent lumps from forming. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until obtaining a thick bechamel, whisking regularly. Take off the heat and let cool - as it cools down, the bechamel will keep thickening.
In a large bowl, mix the fish, chopped shrimps, lemon zest, garlic and parsley. Add the bechamel sauce and mix thoroughly. If you can, place it in the fridge to set for a couple of hours or overnight. If not, proceed to the next step.
Place the flour in a soup bowl.
Lightly oil your hands and shape a tablespoon of the mixture into a cylinder about 5 cms long and 2 cm thick, helping yourself with the flour. I found that the easiest way to do this was to give the croqueta a rough shape first, then drop it into the flour bowl, shake the bowl sideways to coat the croqueta on all sides and then finalise its shape. It is best to prepare all the floured croquetas in one go so that you get your fingers messy only once.
Just before serving:
Place the beaten eggs and bread crumbs into two separate soup bowls.
Drop each croqueta into the egg then coat it in bread crumbs by placing it into the bowl and shaking it. At this point you can just deep-fry them in 1 inch of oil or do the following, which spares oil quantity. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large non stick frying pan.Sauté a batch of croquetas on medium heat. To make sure they brown on all sides easily, flatten the croquetas lightly and allow them to brown on their bottom. Then rotate them at an angle so you know you will only have three facets to fry. Each batch should take about 5 minutes to make, you may need to add a bit of oil between batches.
Serve immediately with lemon wedges and the lemon pea purée
Lemon pea purée
Boil the peas from frozen in salted water for about 2 minutes. Drain all the liquids, stir in the butter and lemon juice and blitz until smooth. Season as required and adjust to your taste: add more juice if you want your purée more lemony and a bit of cream for extra-naughtiness.
Can be done a day ahead:
Prepare a thick bechamel sauce: In a thick-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Keeping the saucepan on the heat, stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Stir for a minute or two until the flour is well blended. Add the milk little by little, whisking the mixture as you do it to prevent lumps from forming. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until obtaining a thick bechamel, whisking regularly. Take off the heat and let cool – as it cools down, the bechamel will keep thickening.
In a large bowl, mix the fish, chopped shrimps, lemon zest, garlic and parsley. Add the bechamel sauce and mix thoroughly. If you can, place it in the fridge to set for a couple of hours or overnight. If not, proceed to the next step.
Place the flour in a soup bowl.
Lightly oil your hands and shape a tablespoon of the mixture into a cylinder about 5 cms long and 2 cm thick, helping yourself with the flour. I found that the easiest way to do this was to give the croqueta a rough shape first, then drop it into the flour bowl, shake the bowl sideways to coat the croqueta on all sides and then finalise its shape. It is best to prepare all the floured croquetas in one go so that you get your fingers messy only once.
Just before serving:
Place the beaten eggs and bread crumbs into two separate soup bowls.
Drop each croqueta into the egg then coat it in bread crumbs by placing it into the bowl and shaking it. At this point you can just deep-fry them in 1 inch of oil or do the following, which spares oil quantity. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large non stick frying pan.Sauté a batch of croquetas on medium heat. To make sure they brown on all sides easily, flatten the croquetas lightly and allow them to brown on their bottom. Then rotate them at an angle so you know you will only have three facets to fry. Each batch should take about 5 minutes to make, you may need to add a bit of oil between batches.
Serve immediately with lemon wedges and the lemon pea purée
Lemon pea purée
Boil the peas from frozen in salted water for about 2 minutes. Drain all the liquids, stir in the butter and lemon juice and blitz until smooth. Season as required and adjust to your taste: add more juice if you want your purée more lemony and a bit of cream for extra-naughtiness.
Obviously you can use ham instead of fish to go back to the original version, but also chopped chorizo and / or cheese.
If you don't have cooked fish fillets on hand, boil the fish in half milk, half water, for about 3 minutes or until cooked through.
If you don't have cooked fish fillets on hand, boil the fish in half milk, half water, for about 3 minutes or until cooked through.
Ingredients
60 g butter
160 g flour
70cL semi-skimmed milk
250g cooked fish, flaked
150g cooked shrimps, shelled and chopped
Zest of 2 lemons, finely chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
For the coating:
120 g fine dried breadcrumbs
120 g flour
2 eggs, beaten
Pea Purée
500 g peas
30 g butter
Salt and pepper
Juice of half a lemon (or more if you want it more lemony)
A bit of creme fraiche (optional)
60 g butter
160 g flour
70cL semi-skimmed milk
250g cooked fish, flaked
150g cooked shrimps, shelled and chopped
Zest of 2 lemons, finely chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
For the coating:
120 g fine dried breadcrumbs
120 g flour
2 eggs, beaten
Pea Purée
500 g peas
30 g butter
Salt and pepper
Juice of half a lemon (or more if you want it more lemony)
A bit of creme fraiche (optional)
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