Recipe for Croquetas de Jamon
Looking for a new finger food that your kids will love? Want to bring something unique and delicious to your next football party? Then look no further than your next ham. I’m talking about ham croquettes. In Spanish they are called croquetas de jamon. They can be made two ways, either with ham or with ham and cheese!
These appetizers are perfect for any occasion. What makes these croquettes different (and better in my opinion) is the addition of onion, garlic and green bell pepper. They are ground in with the the ham so the kids will never know they are there. Then breaded in breadcrumbs and fried until golden brown. What’s not to love? So let’s get started!
Prep Hack
Check out this croqueta hack I found on YouTube. Before I found this hack it would take at least 30-45 minutes to just roll out each individual croqueta. Now with using this technique the time has been cut down to no more than 15 minutes to prepare a whole batch of croquetas.
Sharing is fun……Below is a Pinterest friendly photo!
Ham Croquettes (Croquetas de Jamon)
Ingredients
Instructions
- First I cube the ham, onions and bell peppers into one inch pieces. Then I add the garlic cloves to the ham and vegetables.
- I like to use my meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. If you don’t have one pulsing it in a food processor works great too. Just be careful not to over do it, you want to have a little texture and not a mushy paste. As the mixture is going through the grinder I can smell the ingredients mixing with each other and soon my mouth is watering knowing what is about to be made.
- After everything is ground up together I heat a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large stock pot. When the oil is hot but not smoking add the ham mixture and start stirring. Let it cook about five to ten minutes until it’s heated through while still stirring then gradually add 1/2 cup of flour. Don’t add it all at once, just sprinkle some in and stir.
- Then I add in the milk the same way, a little at a time and stir. This is the part where we get a small workout. Keep stirring so as not to burn the ham mixture. Eventually it will cook and combine and it will start to look like dough. Delicious ham dough! Next lay out a large piece of parchment paper and transfer the ham to the paper and let it cool.
After it has cooled down take half of the mixture and add the shredded oaxaca cheese and mix it in so it’s mixed evenly. If you don’t have oaxaca cheese you can substitute with Monterey Jack cheese. Now it’s time for the fun part, we get to get our hands dirty! I keep my hands greased with a little oil while I take a piece and roll it into little logs about 2 inches long.
*If you have a stand mixer with the meat grinder attachment follow the video above.
- Now let’s make a breading station. We need one dish for the egg wash and another dish for the bread crumbs. I never throw out French bread that we didn’t finish. I always have a place in my pantry for old bread so whenever I need bread crumbs I just go to the pantry and grab some dried bread and crush it down enough to fit in the blender or food processor and viola!! Fresh bread crumbs in an instant. Thank goodness I have appliances to do this because my mother in-law would make bread crumbs using nothing but a cheese grater. I digress, so we have our dishes one with whisked eggs and one with bread crumbs. Dip each croquette in the egg wash and then the bread crumbs.
- Now we’re so close to eating these delicious ham delights. All we have to do is heat some oil to 350 degrees and drop these in and cook until golden brown, only about 3-4 minutes. If you’re like me I get so impatient with the first batch I normally burn my mouth from eating one that’s too hot! But they are so good! I like to dip them in mustard for a little tangy flavor that pairs so good with ham. Enjoy!!
