BIT ON THE SIDE ep. 15 - prosciutto and almond croquetas
Hands down one of my favourite nibbly bits to inhale
It’s been a wee while since my last BOTS instalment, but I’m back with episode 15 with these gorgeous prosciutto and almond croquetas. This is my take on the wildly popular Spanish tapas dish and they are so addictive I implore you not to eat all of them! I often stick to a more traditional Serrano ham filling, but I just love this prosciutto and almond combo - sounds weird but I promise it’s elite. We can thank a spot of postpartum daytime TV viewing of James Martin’s Spanish Adventure for the inspo to add almonds.
The trickiest part of this dish is shaping them, I find using a spoon to measure out the béchamel dropping it straight into the flour helps, but a key step is factoring in time for the filling to cool and set in the fridge. If you try to skip this, you’ll have an absolute mess on your hands - literally and figuratively speaking.
Another important factor when making these is to ensure you take your béchamel to the right thickness - it should be like a paste, rather than cream. When you break into the cooked croquetas, you want it to hold shape. We’re not looking for an overly oozey, gooey melted cheese type situation here.
PS if you’re not so familiar with this series, here are a few of the most popular recipes so far.
If you’re looking for all 14 episodes, I have a highlight on my Instagram and a collection on TikTok for your browsing pleasure!
The Recipe
Makes 18-20 croquetas
For the béchamel filling
40ml olive oil
60g flour
400ml whole milk
90g young manchego
Fresh nutmeg
Salt
White pepper
100g prosciutto, cut into small pieces
30g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
For the coating
75g flour
2 eggs
75g breadcrumbs
Neutral oil for frying (you can also use olive oil but in this economy!! I don’t think so)
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