THE PERFECT SPANISH TAPA FOR A SUNNY OUTDOOR PARTY: TUNA CROQUETTES (14-15 pieces)

There are two types of bechamel croquettes that you normally find on a typical Spanish tapas-bar-restaurant menu: Spanish serrano ham and shredded chicken. However the bechamel croquettes I personally cook more frequently at home are made with tuna, firstly because they are delicious (they are as good as the meat ones) and secondly because at a party these can be enjoyed by more people, as for example, by those who cannot eat meat for whatever reason. I dedicate this recipe to all of them.

INGREDIENTS

• One tuna can in water (net weight 5oz -142 gr. / dry weight 4oz - 113g). Drain the water and shred the dry tuna into small pieces
• 3/4 cup small diced onion
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 1/2 cups of milk (2% milkfat if possible)
• 5 tablespoons of all purpose flour
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1 pinch of ground nutmeg 
• 2 large eggs
• Bread crumbs (about 3/4 cup)
• Plenty of Olive oil, for frying (you can also use vegetable oil but I recommend olive oil). 

1/ Place a medium size frying pan on the stove at medium heat and add the butter. 

2/ When the butter is melted, turn the heat down to a very low position and add the onion. Cook it until it gets golden (3-4 minutes). Stir frequently. 

3/ Add the milk and then the tuna. Stir. Shred any remaining chunks of tuna with the spoon.

4/ Add the salt and the nutmeg. Stir. 

5/ Add two table spoons of flour by spreading it on the mixture and stir vigorously until everything blends. Immediately, add two more table spoons of flour and repeat the process; the mixture is getting thicker. Add the last table spoon of flour and repeat the operation again. This whole process takes approximately 6 minutes. At that point the mixture is consistent but still very soft. Never overdo it with the flour.

6/ Transfer the mixture to a plate and let it cool down.

7/ Once the mixture is cold, we can start modeling the croquettes. We start taking portions of the mixture, giving them shape and placing them on a plate. The mixture is very sticky so the portions won’t be very even or visually nice. They will be perfected on the next step.

8/ At this point we need at the table:

• The individual portions of the mixture you modeled (don’t make them too big, maximum 1 3/4 inch).
• A bowl with the eggs perfectly whisked.
• A plate with a thick layer on top of bread crumbs. You will need more bread crumbs on the side ready to use. 
• An empty plate.

One by one and with a fork, we take each portion, soak them throughly in the eggs, drain them with the fork before transferring them to the plate of bread crumbs to be evenly coated. Each portion needs to be coated in bread crumbs twice, meaning this that once you coat a portion in bread crumbs for first time, this has to be soaked in the eggs and coated in bread crumbs again. We will be placing the finished raw croquettes on the empty plate. The croquettes are ready to be deep-fried.

9/ In a hollow fry pan, add enough olive oil to sumerge the croquettes to the half. Place the frying pan at medium heat. Once the olive oil is very hot, add the croquettes to the frying pan and this is a crucial detail. If you add the croquettes into warm oil for example, these will probably break while you are frying them.

10/ When the croquettes get a light brown color transfer them to a plate that you previously prepared with kitchen paper on top so part of the oil can be absorbed by it.

The croquettes are ready to be properly plated and served. You can add on the side a small bowl with mayonnaise so your guests can dip the croquettes in before eating them. A great plate to combine with this delicious tapa, is sliced fresh tomatoes with olive oil, sliced garlic and two generous pinches of salt on top. Buen provecho!

Buenisimo!

#buenisimowithdanielbuenos