Basil and Ricotta Cheese Croquettes

While the process of making croquettes can be time consuming, they are always a favourite because of their creamy soft centres and crunchy outer layer. I was watching Ready, Steady, Cook when they mentioned ricotta croquettes. However, since there are no exact measurements given on the show, I can only offer rough measurements. I have modified the recipe by adding in basil leaves.

This recipe makes about 6-8 large croquettes, or up to 20 mini croquettes.

Ingredients
250g smooth ricotta cheese (available from the dairy aisle of the frozen section in the supermarket)
2-3 tablespoons of chopped basil
breadcrumbs

In three separate bowls
2 eggs, beaten
flour
breadcrumbs

Method

1. Mix the basil into the ricotta cheese.
2. Add breadcrumbs so that you get a thicker mixture which is easy to mould. Don't worry if you seem to be putting in a lot of breadcrumbs - from my estimations, you will need about 1/3 of the mixture worth or breadcrumbs. Maybe even more.
3. Shape the croquettes into patties or balls.
4. Coat each croquette in the following order: flour, egg and breadcrumbs.
5. Coat the croquette again in just egg and breadcrumbs.
6. Heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan/wok.
7. Deep fry the croquettes until brown - I like them to be the colour of maple syrup.

Tips:
These are best eaten warm with a side of tomato relish (Masterfoods has a yummy tomato relish!).

It is important to double coat as it ensures that the cheese is properly coated. Cheese croquettes which are not coated well will explode. Okay, not explode, but cheese will spurt our from the uncoated gap. Not a good look.

On Ready, Steady, Cook, the chef suggested using one hand for dry dipping and the other for wet dipping. However, if you're not ambidextrous, that's a bit of a challenge to do competently. What I have found is that it is easier to use your hands for the dry dipping, and use a fork to coat with egg. You can then balance the coated croquette on the fork to drain the excess egg.

I have tried adding semi dried tomatos into the mix as well - these are not bad variation!

If you want to put a bit of bite into your croquette, you may want to add some toasted pinenuts to the mix. I have yet to try this.