SWEET POTATO CROQUETTES WITH SERRANO HAM

SWEET POTATO CROQUETTES WITH SERRANO HAM

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 300g sweet potatoes
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 80g Serrrano ham, sliced into small pieces
• 60g Spanish cheese (eg Manchego), grated
• ¼ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• 150g flour (approx)
• 400ml milk
• freshly gournd black pepper, to taste
• ground nutmeg, to taste
• 4 eggs
• 1 lime
• 8 marinated olives, finely diced.
• 150h yoghurt
• 2 tsp Canadian maple syrup
• 150g breadcrumbs (approx)
• vegetable oil, for frying
• salt, to taste

METHOD

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into cubes
2. Cook them in slightly salted, boiling water for around 10-15 minutes.
3. Drain the sweet potatoes, pat them dry, mash them, and set aside to cool.
4. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat. Add the onion and ham and cook briefly.
5. Add 100g of flour and sauté everything.
6. Pour in the milk, whisking continuously, and bring to a boil. The mixture should thicken.
7. Put the contents of the pan into a large bowl, along with parsley, sweet potato mash, cheese and breadcrumbs.
8. Stir it all together and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Leave to cool.
9. When cool, mix in 2 eggs, and refrigerate the mixture for about an hour.
10. To make a dip, zest half the lime.
11. Cut the lime in half, and squeeze the juice into a small bowl with the zest.
12. Mix together the yoghurt, maple syrup, lime juice and zest and olives. Season to taste.
13. Take three deep plates (or 3 shallow bowls). Fill one of them with flour, one with whisked eggs and one with breadcrumbs.
14. Remove your sweet potato mixture from the fridge. Wet your hands and shape the mixture into 16 evenly sized croquettes.
15. Dip each croquette first in flour, then in the whisked eggs, and lastly the breadcrumbs.
16. Heat the oil and deep fry the croquettes until golden. (You may need to do them one by one or in small batches to ensure they don’t stick together). Let them drain on a paper towel.
17. Serve with the zesty dip.