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Spinach croquettes (Croquetas de espinaca)

These spinach croquettes are relatively easy to make but they do require some planning ahead, as the spinach needs to drain completely and the boiled spinach dough mixture needs to cool down for a certain amount of time before you can fry them.



Ingredients

* 1 lb. frozen spinach
* 4 slices of ham
* 1 cup flour
* 1 small onion, chopped finely
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 cups whole milk
* 2 eggs
* 5 tablespoons of grated cheese
* Enough breadcrumbs
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
* Canola oil to fry the croquettes
* salt

preparation:

1) Put the frozen spinach in the boiling water; when cooked (doesn’t take long), put in a strainer for at least 30 minutes to drain it completely. Chop the ham into small pieces.

2) Place the spinach in the bowl of your mixer or blender and add the ham, flour, olive oil, 2 cups of milk and salt. Mix or blend well until smoothly blended.

3) Pour this mixture into a pan, add the finely chopped onion and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until this dough thickens. If it becomes too thick, you can add back a little more milk, stirring slowly. Continue cooking it for 20 minutes, until the consistency of croquettes dough is reached. Before removing from heat, add the grated cheese and the nutmeg.

4) Pour this dough in a bowl and refrigerate to cool it down completely, for us to be able to handle it. You can keep this dough like this in the refrigerator until the next day; this allows you to prepare things ahead of time.

5) When ready to fry, beat the eggs in a bowl; generously sprinkle the breadcrumbs over a plate. Shape the spinach dough in small croquettes, dip in the eggs then roll in the breadcrumbs.

Fry them in enough hot oil to cover until they get a nice golden brown color and serve, as a delicious argentinian appetizer...