Croquetas: the ultimate way to use leftovers

In my family, there was a golden rule of “don’t waste food”. Learning how to cook just enough food for all the members of your family is a skill, but if, for whatever reason, you tend to cook a bit more, please do not stress. You can always use and reuse leftovers!

Those who know me well will know that I absolutely love the challenge of cooking with leftovers. In fact, I used to be the chef in charge of many restaurant sta lunches because of that. I’m pretty good at cleaning fridges avoiding waste and the loss of a lot of money for the business owners.

It is funny that nowadays a lot of people compare this with the super well-known ‘Mystery Box Challenge’ concept that many cooking TV shows do. But trust me, you don’t need to be a MasterChef Australia contestant in order to do that. Whether you eat meat, fish or veggies there will come a time that you’ll have to use those bits and pieces that end up not being eaten the night before — the sad piece of vegetable hidden in the veggie draw, the leftover cheese or smallgoods from your weekend catch-up with friends, etc…

That is why I wanted to let you know that there are many, many tricks and recipes you can have up your sleeve to prepare a new meal with all those products. And in my opinion, the queen of all of them is today’s recipe: Spanish croquetas. But hold on a sec Rubén, are ‘croquetas’ the same recipe we call in English as croquettes? Sort of… Let’s start by saying yes, conceptually it is. As you may know, they are a snack, entree or tapa, crunchy on the outside but creamy and filled with delicious stu inside. However, the big di erence between the English or French version and the Spanish one is how you make the mixture inside. This is something that I’ve come to realise not many people here know. In Spain, our croquetas are not made with potatoes!

But, you’ll be wondering, if the Spanish croquetas are not made with potatoes, what are they made with? Well, get a piece of paper and a pen, because these steps in today’s recipe are going to solve a lot of your cooking needs.

When I went to TAFE, I learned that one of the ‘mother sauces’ in cooking is called ‘BECHAMEL’. Here in Australia a lot of people call it white sauce, and they usually just think about it when they think of lasagne or gratinated pasta. But it can be used to make a lot of things like the famous mornay sauce (which is bechamel + cheese), the croque madame sandwich so trendy in cafes — and of course, the delicious, super creamy Spanish croquetas you’ll find in many tapas bars across the Iberian Peninsula. Yes, you read right; Spanish croquetas are made with bechamel, not potatoes.

In French cooking, the bechamel recipe begins by using equal parts of butter and flour, called ‘ROUX’ (in Spain we use half olive oil and half butter). There are four types of roux, which depend on how much colour you let the flour get while cooking, but today we are going to concentrate just on the basic one, the white one.

To start, get ready by measuring the butter and flour, chop an onion finely, put the milk in a saucepan with some flavouring on low heat to infuse it and chop the protein or flavours you are about to use. You’ll see that today I had some leftover jamon serrano and manchego cheese.

But Rubén, can I use fish instead of meat? Or veggies instead of animal protein?

Di erent types of flour, even gluten-free)? Or alternative milk options if I have a dairy intolerance? The answer to all of that is, yes! Play with the recipe, but remember the basics of what it is: A delicious and creamy torpedo-shaped snack to reuse anything in the kitchen. Some ideas I’ve made over the years include: an eel and horseradish croqueta, leek and Mahon cheese croquetas, forest mushrooms and fresh thyme croquetas, etc… You see, the options are endless!

Chef tip: Take your time and cook the bechamel well, it must not taste like raw flour. Always make your croqueta mix the day before you fry them. After frying them, use kitchen paper to absorb the excess fat before serving them to your family. Finally, keep an eye on the seasoning, always wait to add it at the end once all the flavours are combined. You’ll see below, I’m not using any because the jamon serrano I’m using is already salty.

INGREDIENTS:

Basic croquetas mix:

- 60 g extra virgin olive oil

- 60 g butter

- 1 onion chopped really small

- 120 g plain flour

- 1-litre milk (infused with fresh thyme)

FLAVOURS:

- 250 g jamon serrano, chopped finely

- 100 g manchego cheese, chopped small

- fresh thyme to infuse the milk with

CRUMBING:

- Extra plain flour

- 2 eggs, whisk well.

- Crumbs

- Oil to fry

METHOD:

- In a frying pan add olive oil and butter over medium heat.

- Add the chopped onion to it. Stir well.

- In a saucepan, add the milk and the thyme and infuse them, keeping it warm.

- Once the onion is cooked well and soft (super important), add the flour and stir well.

- Cook it for a minute or so and then, using a ladle, start adding little by little the milk to the mix.

- You’ll see how the mixture starts absorbing the milk, this is the moment to then add more and repeat until you finish the whole process.

- Keep stirring and bring the bechamel to a simmer. You can use a whisk if you see any lumps (or even a hand blender).

- After 10 to 15 minutes taste it (it shouldn’t be floury). If it still tastes like raw flour, keep cooking it.

- If it doesn’t, turn it really low and add the chopped cheese and jamon serrano. Stir it well, turn it o and taste it again. At this point, it has to be delicious!

- Store it in a container with a bit of cling wrap in the fridge until it cools down completely.

- The following day, remove the plastic wrap and with the help of 2 spoons start making little pieces of bechamel (make sure they are the same size).

- To crumb them: dust them in flour first, then in whisked egg mix and finally the crumbs.

- Heat oil in a frypan, or deep-fryer if you have one, and cook the croquetas until golden brown.

- Remove the excess fat by drying them on a piece of kitchen paper.

- Serve them hot to your family.