Croquetas de Jamón

Nico López/Mercado Little Spain (New York, USA)

Preparation

Serving: 2 Dozen

Combine milk and cream and bring to a simmer. Dice onions to roughly ¼ inch. In a skillet, melt the butter and half of the jamón. Add in the flour to make a roux. Slowly add the cream, milk, and chicken stock, stirring constantly to form a bechamel. Continue to simmer and stir until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the remaining jamón and kosher salt to taste. The finished bechamel should be slightly salty!

Carefully pour the batter onto a tray or baking pan, letting them to set in the fridge overnight. The following day, portion the dough into 1 oz sized balls. Shape each croqueta ball using your hands to give it their signature oval shape. Pass each croqueta through egg wash and coat thoroughly with breadcrumbs.

Place the breaded croquetas back in the fridge and allow them to sit for a few hours prior to frying them. This step is very important as it prevents the croquetas from breaking while frying!

Deep fry the croquetas in canola oil at 350 F for about 90 seconds each, or until golden brown.

Gently pat the fried croquetas to absorb any excess oil.

Share and enjoy!

NICO LÓPEZ BIO

Nicolás (Nico) López Chef Nico oversees all culinary operations at Mercado Little Spain, Chef José Andrés’s first outpost in New York City, a 35,000-square-foot Spanish food hall and the largest project in the restaurant group.

As part of his day-to-day, Nico supervises all production and execution on the culinary side, serves as a key on-the-record spokesperson for the Mercado and a surrogate for Chef Andrés, liaises with multiple departments within the Mercado and the José Andrés Grouphome office, all while continuing to work on everything from menu development and recipe creation to creating new Mercado concepts like additional food kiosks.

Since opening, Mercado Little Spain has been recognized by The New York Times as the best new restaurant in 2019 and included in their list of 100 Best Restaurants in 2022. During the pandemic when restaurants were forced to close, Chef Nico oversaw the creation of 136,000 meals provided for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen to feed those facing food insecurity. In 2021, Nico was named to Nation Restaurant News' Power List for this extraordinary work.

Tor-ti-lla! From USA to the World

The Spanish Tapa: from Humble Savoury to On-Trend Culinary Icon

RELATED PRODUCTS

Ibérico ham & pork

Cebolla Fuentes de Ebro PDO

RELATED RECIPES

Video Recipe: Ibérico ham wraps with asparagus and porcini mushrooms

Bellota Pork Tartar with Anchovy Stuffed Olives

Time

60 Minutes (plus one night for the dough to set)

1 l whole milk
0.5 tbs kosher salt
188 gr all purpose flour
63 gr unsalted butter
63 ml heavy cream
430 gr jamón ibérico
125 ml chicken stock
310 gr sweet onion
3 eggs
500 gr breadcrumbs

1.76 pint whole milk
0.5 tbs kosher salt
6.631 oz all purpose flour
2.222 oz unsalted butter
2.342 fl. oz heavy cream
15.168 oz jamón ibérico
4.524 fl. oz chicken stock
10.935 oz sweet onion
3 eggs
17.637 lb breadcrumbs

4.352 cup whole milk
0.5 tbs kosher salt
0.895 cup all purpose flour
0.32 cup unsalted butter
0.266 cup heavy cream
2.008 lb jamón ibérico
0.528 cup chicken stock
1.456 cup sweet onion
3 eggs
2.33 lb breadcrumbs