Potato croquettes with romesco sauce

Miriam, author of El Invitado de Invierno, brings us the potato croquette recipe that you'll enjoy both as a snack and as an accompaniment to any lunch or dinner. The recipe is very easy to make; it's just a matter of keeping a few tips in mind so they turn out perfect — you'll see!

These potato croquettes are the kind of snack everyone loves. They couldn't be simpler: the dough is actually mashed potato, which we enrich with a beaten egg so they hold together better when fried and that we can also fill with whatever mix-ins we like or even season with colorful spices like paprika or curry.

To make the mashed potato I prefer to steam the potatoes, because not only do they not absorb water or release their starch into the cooking liquid, but they stay firmer and therefore we avoid having to heat the mash on the stove to dry it slightly and make it manageable.

To shape these croquettes perfectly we use a croquette maker, which not only leaves the croquettes' surface as smooth as a baby's bottom, but also forms the cylinders of dough in no time and then we only have to cut them into croquette-sized portions. Let's get to them.

Croquetero Millecroquettes, Birrateque beer glasses by Luigi Bormioli, Emile Henry ceramic ramekin and Triana glass plate by Mediterránea.

Ingredients (for about 25-30 croquettes)

• 1Kg glutinous potatoes
• 40gr butter
• 1 egg for the dough
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fine breadcrumbs for coating
• 2 additional beaten eggs for coating
• Olive oil for frying

Preparation

1. We peel the potatoes and put them in a steamer; if they're different sizes we can cut them into similarly sized pieces so they all cook in the same time.
2. We bring the water to a boil and steam the potatoes until tender.
3. Meanwhile, we prepare the beaten egg and the butter. When the potatoes are ready we press them hot through a food mill and add the butter so it melts with the potatoes' own heat.
4. We add the beaten egg, mix thoroughly and season with salt and pepper.
5. Working quickly so the mash doesn't cool and become unmanageable, we transfer it to the croquette maker, where more or less all of it will fit, and form three cylinders of dough on the croquette maker's tray dusted with breadcrumbs. Our dough may occupy slightly more than the tray's length and we might need to move the first cylinders to another dish.
6. We let the dough cylinders dry for at least 30 minutes so they can be handled easily. We should be able to touch them without them sticking to our fingers, although in any case they must be handled very carefully.
7. Once the dough is dry, we cut it into croquette-sized portions that we'll pass through breadcrumbs.
8. Next we dip all the croquettes in beaten egg and finally in breadcrumbs a second time.
9. We heat the oil in a small, deep frying pan or in a saucepan, at least a couple of fingers deep; the oil should be able to cover the croquettes. When it's hot (around 175°-180° if you have a thermometer) we fry the croquettes in batches of 3 or 4, removing them to a dish lined with paper towels to absorb some of the fat.
10. We serve them hot with romesco sauce, for example from La Chinata, or with any sauce you prefer.

Birrateque beer glasses by Luigi Bormioli, Emile Henry ceramic ramekin, Triana glass plate by Mediterránea, Mediterránea glass glasses and Mediterránea glass pitcher.

I'll tell you one last trick: anyone who has made croquettes will know that coating with egg is a bit tedious because the yolk and white have different consistencies. If we use only egg whites passed through a sieve that we've let rest for a few hours with a pinch of salt in a container in the fridge, the croquettes will not only drain much better from the coating liquid (which will be very uniform) but we'll avoid those ugly ragged edges that beaten egg tends to leave. And the coating's color will be just as pretty.

Enjoy these addictive potato croquettes with romesco sauce. Tell us how they turn out.