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Chicken and serrano ham croquetas with Padrón peppers
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 75g unsalted butter
- 150g plain flour
- 450ml milk
- 75g serrano ham, roughly chopped
- 75g cooked chicken, chopped
- 1 small bunch of parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
- 25g flaked toasted almonds
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 75g fresh breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 200g Padrón peppers
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then whisk in 75g of the flour and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in the milk slowly until you have a very thick sauce – almost the consistency of mashed potato. Season with salt and pepper. Tip into a bowl and stir in the serrano ham, chicken and parsley.
Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the flaked almonds. Place in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes until just firm. Wet your hands, then take spoonfuls of the mixture and roll them into balls. Place the remaining 75g of flour, the eggs and breadcrumbs in separate bowls and season with salt and pepper. Roll the balls first in the flour, then in the eggs, then in the breadcrumbs, then place on a work surface and roll gently into cylindrical shapes. Set aside while you heat the oil and fry the peppers.
Heat a deep-fat fryer to 170C/340F, or heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep, heavy-based frying pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. Do not leave unattended.
While the oil is heating up, heat a frying pan until hot, then add the olive oil, Padrón peppers and half the salt, and fry for 2-3 minutes, until just golden and softened. Tip into a serving bowl and sprinkle with the last of the salt.
Deep fry the croquetas in batches for 3-4 minutes, until golden-brown and hot through. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Serve the croquetas with the Padrón peppers.
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