Cheesy Pumpkin Quinoa Croquettes (say whuuut?!)
- R.
- Oct 23, 2015
- 3 min read
Ok, so croquette is a French word that I have no idea how to translate so I'm just going to go ahead with the Franglais and hope you all know what I'm talking about... You know, those delicious, smooth and yet crunchy at the same time sides that you can serve with pretty much any meal? They're basically mashed potato ovals wrapped in breadcrumbs that are then fried.
Except us gluten intolerant peeps can't eat breadcrumbs... So what are we supposed to do?!
Use cooked quinoa, that's what. Give it a go and tell me what you think!
Watch the video on how to make them here: (or keep reading for written instructions)
Ingredients:
200g of potato
200g of pumpkin
1 egg
1tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
25g of cheddar cheese
20g of parmesan
1.5cups of cooked quinoa
3tbsp of sunflower oil
1.5tsp tandoori mix
0.5tsp garlic powder
And a pinch of salt
You'll also need some water to cook your potato and pumpkin in.
How to:
1. Start by chopping your pumpkin and potato into chunks, and throw them into a sauce pan.
2. Add about a cup (or two) of water, cover and place over a high heat until the water boils. Then turn the heat down to medium and cook until the pumpkin and potato are soft enough to be easily pierced by a fork (knife, skewer, sword...).
3. Drain the excess water and stir in the pinch of salt, garlic powder and the tandoori spice mix.
4. Continue cooking the pumpkin and potato mix until you can mash them together easily. Once your mash is silky smooth, take it off the heat.
5. Break your egg into a glass (or any container really) and lightly whisk it with a fork then add it to the saucepan and stir it in.
6. Then stir in the cheddar cheese, the Parmesan cheese (and the nutritional yeast, if you're using it). These will not only make your croquettes taste deliciously cheesy but they'll absorb some of the excess moisture and help the croquettes hold together better.
7. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.
~ Now I'm not going to lie, this next part is quite messy because the mix is sticky - so don't attempt this if you're scared of getting your hands dirty ~
8. Spoon some of the mixture into your hand (don't worry, you can lick them clean later, I mean wash them clean... yeah, wash. That's what I meant), form it into a little block (like a deck of cards) and then cover it with the cooked quinoa. You can just press the quinoa into the mash, turn it over and cover the other side. You can shape the croquette at the same time, then place on a plate and do the same with the rest of the mash. I managed to make 5 huge croquettes, feel free to make smaller ones - but if you do you'll need more quinoa as the surface area of the croquettes will increase. They will be easier to cook though, if they are smaller. Once you've used all your mash, put your croquettes back in the fridge for about 20 minutes to chill.
9. Heat up some sunflower oil in a frying pan. I cooked mine in two batches, so I used half of the oil each time (thank you, Captain Obvious). To check when the oil is hot you can drop a tiny piece of pumpkin and quinoa mix into the pan and it should fry right away. At this point you can place your croquettes into the oil and let them cook for a few minutes. You don't want to touch them whilst they are cooking because the quinoa is forming the crust on the bottom and if you touch a croquette to soon, it'll just fall apart. When you flip them over be very careful, it's easiest if you use two utensils and support the whole croquette. (Now you can see why smaller ones are easier to cook! But these still aren't very difficult to manage, you are a skilled cooking ninja after all).
10. Once the quinoa has browned nicely, transfer to your plate and serve immediately!
Nutritional values:
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