IBERICO HAM CROQUETTES

Croquetas in Spain are typical "tapas" dishes, usually filled with ham, chicken, fish like cod, but nowadays, many restaurants are offering different versions of croquettes with other fillings as ingredients like boletus(mushrooms) or different cheeses(brie, parmesan…) or even shrimps.
Croquette has the origin in France , but many countries in the world have their varieties and ways to prepare, like Germany, where the main ingredient is potato.
Croquetas, is a small fried roll , delicious inside because of the béchamel and the fillings and crunchy outside.
We can enjoy croquetas any time of the day like an appetizer , a side dish or even as a tapa.

To prepare iberico ham croquetas we will need:

 INGREDIENTS

• 1onion
• 1/2 pound iberico ham chopped
• 4 oz.butter
• 14 oz. iberico ham broth
• 20 oz. milk
• 1 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of nutmeg
• olive oil(for deep frying)
• eggs(to cover)
• bread crumbs(to cover)

PREPARATION

Fist we will prepare bechamel:

1. Heat  butter in a saucepan and sauté  onion finely chopped and  iberico ham for about 5 minutes at low-medium temperature
2. Meanwhile, heat milk and  iberico ham broth to warm both liquids(we need these two liquids warm to make the béchamel)
3. Add  flour to the saucepan with  onion and iberico ham and stir everything with a wood spoon until the flour is well mixed 
4. Add  both warm liquids(milk and ham broth) , little by little,  to the saucepan, stirring constantly.
5. Stir for about 10 minutes in a medium-low temperature ( we can't stop stirring during these 10 minutes)
6. Add pinch of salt (usually it doesn't need too much because of ham broth) and pinch of nutmeg
7. Poured  béchamel into a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until next day in the fridge

Second we will shape croquette mixture:

1. Beat 2 or 3 eggs in a bowl and put bread crumbs in another bowl
2. Roll  mixture croquettes into oval shape( you can use an ice cream scoop)
3. Roll  croquette into bread crumbs, dip into eggs and again into breadcrumbs to coat well
4. Transfer to a parchment paper baking sheet and repeat with remaining croquette mixture
5. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and fry croquettes in batches until golden brown
6. Transfer to a paper towel to drain the excess of oil
7. Serve hot and enjoy!!!