STUFFED POTATO CROQUETTES

These are hugely popular and easy to make in larger quantities
than I’ve given here. You can also experiment with the fillings; I’ve
even used leftover Bolognese before, and though I usually cook the
potatoes fresh the same day, I don’t see why this recipe couldn’t
work equally well with cold, leftover mash from the fridge.
As with all mashed potato recipes, the best kinds to use are the
floury varieties.
2 lb (1 kg) – or roughly 4 medium-sized potatoes
2 tbsp cornflour
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
Plain flour
Breadcrumbs
Oil
For the fillings
1 red onion
1 oz (25 g) feta cheese
2 oz (50 g) ham or leftover gammon
Mushrooms (6–8)
Method
1. Peel and mash the potatoes in the usual way (without milk or
butter).
2. Mix the mashed potatoes, cornflour, beaten egg and salt
together in a bowl to make a dough then turn out onto a
floured surface (use plain flour for this) and knead gently for
just a minute until it all comes together into a smooth, soft
ball.
3. Wrap the dough in cling film and keep it in the fridge while
you prepare the fillings.
4. Warm some oil in a large frying pan while you finely chop the
red onion, mushroom and ham (or gammon) then put the
onions in and cook for a few minutes before moving them over
to one side of the pan and frying the mushrooms. (Cook them
separately if you prefer, but I don’t see the point of getting
more than one pan dirty when it doesn’t matter if you get a bit
of crossover between the two ingredients.)
5. Put the mushrooms in one bowl with the chopped ham and
the red onion in another bowl with the roughly crumbled feta
cheese. Spread a few ounces of breadcrumbs out on a dinner
plate.
6. Divide the dough into quarters and mark each quarter into 3
to make 12 pieces of dough. (You may want to make the pieces
a bit bigger, in which case you should still comfortably get 10
croquettes.)
7. Wet your hands with cold water and form each piece of dough
into a patty with the palms of your hands. Don’t be tempted
to use flour for this bit – and don’t worry about the dough
being soft either, it’s very easy to squish into shape around the
filling.
8. Holding the patty on the palm of one hand, put a couple of
teaspoons of filling in the middle and fold the dough around
the filling, patting it gently into a sort of rounded oval shape.
9. Lightly roll each croquette in the breadcrumbs and shallow fry
in about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of oil before finishing them off in the
oven for another 10 minutes on Gas mark 5–6 (190–200ºC),
or for a minute or two in the microwave.
10. Serve warm with salad, or cold meat and salad.