From Waitrose magazine. I like croquetas a lot, so this combination of ingredients appealed to me immediately. And I had everything in the fridge, so it was an easy choice for supper tonight.

First, 250 ml of milk got warmed up and infused with peppercorns, nutmeg and – bay leaf- which I didn’t use, due to torrential rain and unwillingness to get wet. A shallot and a garlic clove chopped and fried on butter, a splash of milk added and all cooked down for a few minutes. In another pan finely chopped pancetta was happily sizzling away, about 50 g of it. Then a bit of butter in, to make it all lighter and healthier, 40 g of plain flour and a lovely golden roux happened. In goes the infused milk bit by bit and at the end the peas mixture, roughly blitzed, but  not too finely, it’s nice to taste the whole pea too. Seasoned, a handful of  chopped coriander added( parsley in the recipe, but I hardly ever buy parsley), then chilled for 2 hours.  Afterwards it’s as always- flour, egg, panko and into the oil.

Dipping sauce this evening was truffle mayo, which might be sensational when made from scratch, also with the use of white truffle paste. I used jarred mayo, soaked porcini mushrooms and a splash of truffle oil, plus salt and pepper, and blitzed into smoothness.

Loved it. It made 8 croquetas and we ate them all. To be made again. 🙂