Do you like croquettes? Of course you do! Duh! And I am here to tell you that if you have never made your own croquettes before, its easier than you think!
This simple recipe uses only 7 ingredients and is relatively foolproof. Using a bechamel base, the flavour of really good quality portabella mushrooms is all you need to make these taste luxurious and complex.
Buy the best ones you can find- it does make a difference, and don’t substitute regular white mushrooms because their flavour just isn’t strong enough to carry the recipe. You could probably sub a good quality batch of chestnut mushrooms without losing too much, though.
By taking care with each step, you will get a nice crisp outer coating and creamy, oozing middle. So long as you get the bechamel thick enough and coat each croquette perfectly, I find that you can’t go wrong.
portabella mushroom croquettes
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) portabella mushrooms
- ½ white onion
- 1 tsp sage
- 6 Tblsps plain white flour + plus more for coating
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- ¾ cup (180 ml) milk
- 1 egg white
Instructions
- First, you need to get the onion and mushrooms minced as finely as you can. I use a mini food processor for this. If you don’t have one, just chop and chop and chop until they are in teeny pieces.
- Then get started with the bechamel. The first step is to make a roux. Put the flour in a saucepan with about a third of the olive oil.
- Turn the heat on high, and whisk the mixture as it heats up
- Add the rest of the oil, a little at a time, and keep whisking to ensure it doesn’t get lumpy. It will start to bubble.
- Once it is a little bit browned, and smelling toasty, pour the mushroom and onion mixture and the sage in and turn the heat down very low. Mix it all together so that the mushrooms and onions get fragrant and are coated in the roux mixture.
- Then add about a third of the milk, and whisk through. Turn the heat up to medium, and add the rest of the milk bit by bit, until the mixture is creamy and bubbling.
- The mixture should be very thick and sticky. If it’s too thin, add some more flour and keep mixing. If its so thick you can’t even stir it, add a bit more milk.
- Once its ready, spoon the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool down a little before putting in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Once you are ready to make and serve the croquettes, remove the bowl from the fridge and give the mixture a good stir.
- Now set up an area to make the croquettes. Get a clean chopping board ready. Put the egg white in a bowl, and drop a few heaped spoonfuls of flour in another bowl.
- Take a golfball sized piece of the dough and roll it into a croquette shape.
- Dip it into the egg white to coat. Make sure it is completely coated in egg white.
- Now roll it in flour.
- Make sure each croquette is completely coated in egg white and flour- this ensures it will form a crispy crust.
- Time to cook! In a large frying pan, pour enough olive oil to completely cover the bottom and heat on a high heat. To ensure it is the right temperature, throw in a small piece of bread- if it sizzles, you’re good to go.
- Add the croquettes to the pan- only cook 4 or 5 at a time. A crowded pan will not allow the oil to remain hot enough. I have 2 pans on the go in order to have them all ready at the same time.
- Keep the heat high enough so that they are sizzling a little as they cook, but don’t allow the oil to burn. Monitor them closely and when they are browned on the bottom, roll them over in the pan to continue cooking. I usually rotate them 4 times in order to cook them all the way around.
- Cooking time is usually around 10 minutes but it will depend on your heat and and your pan- so just keep watching them!
- If you want a condiment or dip, try serving with some garlic mayonnaise or or mustard cream sauce. I like to eat them plain with a dressed salad.
I've just discovered your blog and it's making me so hungry. These look bloody incredible!