Spanish Ham Croquetas

Ingredients

For 6 portions

• 🧈 80g butter
• 🧅 80g onions
• 🥩 120g prosciutto
• 🌾 130g flour
• 🥛 800ml milk
• 🌿 1g nutmeg
• 🌿 1g black pepper
• 🍳 100g egg
• 🍞 150g dried breadcrumbs
• 🏺 80ml olive oil

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and ham. Melt the butter in a wide pan and cook the onion gently for 8 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add the ham and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Stir in 100 g of the flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring, so it loses its raw taste.
3. Warm the milk. Add it a ladle at a time, stirring well between each, until smooth. Cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until very thick and it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Season with nutmeg and pepper; the ham is salty, so it shouldn't need salt.
4. Spread in a lightly oiled dish, cover the surface with cling film and chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
5. Put the rest of the flour, the beaten eggs and the breadcrumbs in three shallow bowls.
6. With oiled hands, shape spoonfuls of the béchamel into about 24 small logs. Coat each in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.
7. Heat 2 cm of olive oil in a small, deep pan to 180°C and fry a few at a time for 2 minutes, turning, until deep golden. Don't crowd the pan, or they can split. Drain on kitchen paper. The quantity of oil given is what they absorb.
8. Serve hot, warning people the middle is molten.