Name: Croquetas de Jamón (Spanish Ham Croquettes)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 165 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 80 g Serrano Ham, finely chopped; 300 ml Milk, warm; 45 g All-Purpose Flour; 35 g Butter; 40 g Onion, very finely chopped; 1 pinch Nutmeg, freshly grated if possible; ¼ tsp Salt, adjust carefully because ham is salty; ¼ tsp Black Peppercorns, freshly crushed; 1 Egg, beaten, for coating; 70 g Breadcrumbs, for coating; 4 tbsp Olive Oil, for shallow frying

Croquetas de Jamón (Spanish Ham Croquettes)

2 hr 45 mintotal

45 min hands-on2 hr hands-off

Prep 25 min · Cook 20 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: None

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Method

Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until soft without browning.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until it smells lightly nutty.
1–2 min
Gradually whisk in the warm milk to make a thick, smooth béchamel. Keep stirring until the mixture pulls away from the pan.
Add the Serrano ham, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Cook briefly, then spread the mixture on a plate and chill until firm.
Shape the chilled mixture into small logs or ovals. Dip each piece in beaten egg, then coat with breadcrumbs.
Shallow-fry in the measured olive oil until golden and crisp on all sides. Drain briefly and serve hot.

How to tell it's done

The crust should be crisp and golden, while the inside stays creamy and soft.

Getting it right

Tip

The filling should be thicker than a sauce before chilling; otherwise the croquettes may burst while frying.

What to serve it with

Serve as a hot tapa with tomato bread, olives, or a simple salad.

Common mistakes

The croquetas burst in the oil.: Chill the béchamel until genuinely firm, and check the breadcrumb coating has no gaps. A soft centre is the point of a croqueta, but a warm one has nothing holding it together and the filling escapes through any bare patch.
The béchamel tastes of raw flour.: Cook the flour in the butter until it smells faintly nutty before the milk goes in, and keep stirring until the mixture pulls cleanly from the pan. An undercooked roux stays pasty no matter how long it chills.

Substitutions

Ham can replace Serrano Ham if needed, but the flavor will be less distinctly Spanish.
Use Breadcrumbs with a fine texture for an even crust.
Do not skip chilling; warm béchamel will be too soft to shape cleanly.

Storing and reheating

The béchamel keeps two days in the fridge and is easier to shape on day two. Breaded uncooked croquetas freeze for three months and fry from frozen. Fried ones keep two days and re-crisp in a hot oven; the microwave makes them collapse.

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