Various Croquettes (Croquets divers)
Origin: Paris, France
Source: Auguste Escoffier, 1907
Ingredients
- pasta (needles, quill tips, or fresh noodles)
- lean ham
- béchamel sauce (velouté-family mother sauce)
- grated cheese
- butter
- fine breadcrumbs
- oil or fat
- parsley
Instructions
- Prepare the base mixture: blanch your chosen pasta (needles, quill tips, or fresh noodles) until just firm. Combine it generously with lean ham finely julienned. Bind everything together with reduced béchamel sauce (a mother sauce enriched with grated cheese).
- Spread the mixture onto a buttered baking sheet in a layer approximately 1.5 centimetres thick. Allow to cool completely.
- Once cool, cut the mixture into rectangles measuring 7 to 8 centimetres in length and 3 centimetres in width.
- Breade twice à l'anglaise (coat in breadcrumbs using the standard three-step breading technique with very fine breadcrumbs) to double the volume of the outer crust.
- Just before serving, deep-fry in hot fat until golden. Drain on a cloth napkin and present garnished with fried parsley.