Potato Croquettes with Parmesan

I call them the cousins of chips as they are fried and made out of potatoes but these are a different thing altogether.

When I asked my husband (who is English) whether he fancied some croquettes he said: ” they are all right”. I could see he didn’t seem very excited about them. He was recalling memories of eating something similar in the 70’s out of a supermarket frozen section.

In those days, after the 50’s and 60’s, when women had always slaved away in the kitchen making everything from scratch, it seemed like a liberation that convenience meals were invented. You no longer needed to spend hours cooking. You simply got something out of the freezer, or out of a packet, warmed it up and job done! Convenient, easy, quick and …. TASTELESS!

We seem to have gone back to slow cooking again. We do appreciate that there is no shortcut to a tasty meal. Nevertheless people work and they are very busy these days and the time left for cooking is not much. Simple and easy meals are the answer for working days cooking and more laborious and time consuming ones over the weekend or when you have more time on your hands.

Croquettes are a treat. Make them when you have enough spare time and you won’t forget having them. They are a melt in your mouth pleasure.

• Prep Time : 45 minutes
• Cook Time : 40 minutes

Ingredients

• potatoes for mashing – 1 Kg
• nutmeg
• egg yolks – 2
• grated Parmesan – 100 g
• salt and pepper
• oil for frying
• breadcrumbs

Instructions

Cook the potatoes in cold salty water.  Drain and peel them when they are still warm. With a potato masher, mash them in a bowl. Add salt and pepper, Parmesan, nutmeg and mix well.

Mould them into a log shape or if you prefer into little balls.

Beat the egg yolks and dip the croquettes in it. Then roll them into breadcrumbs. If you like you can do that twice in order to have a thicker batter.

Heat plenty of oil in a large pan and when hot fry the croquettes until golden turning them on both sides.

When they are cooked put them on a kitchen paper so that the excess oil will be absorbed.

Serve straight away.

That evening after supper my husband exclaimed “I had no idea croquettes could be so tasty!”

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