Croquettes With Plantain, Pumpkin Seed, Mozzarella And Pancetta

Instructions

• Boil the potato in one pot until completely soft/cooked through. Whilst the potato is boiling, boil the plantain pieces (skin on) in another pot until very soft (slightly overcooked). The plantain will become more yellow and begin to push out of the skins.
• Mash together the potato and plantain thoroughly in a bowl. Mix in the plain flour, then leave the mix to cool.
• Once cooled, take about a tablespoon of the mix and use your hands to roll it into a ball around 3.5-4 inches wide (adding or removing some of the mix as necessary).
• Use your finger or the end of a spoon or fork, to create a deep hole in the ball (around three quarters way through the ball) for the filling, making sure not to poke all the way through. Carefully stuff the hole with either pancetta or mozzarella.
• Take a little more of the mix to create a small 'lid' to cover the hole, then use your hands to carefully roll the ball again to re-shape it as necessary.
• Repeat to create around 8 pancetta balls, and 8 mozzarella balls.
• Use a spoon on your hands to cover each ball completely in the beaten egg, and then in the breadcrumb and pumpkin seed mix. Do this twice for each ball to ensure it is sufficiently coated.
• Set out the croquettes on a plate or tray ready to fry and heat the oil over a medium-high heat in a large frying pan.
• Test the oil is ready with one croquette first: it should begin to sizzle and fry immediately. If the croquette browns/blackens almost immediately, reduce the heat.
• Shallow fry the croquettes until they are a deep golden brown, rotating as necessary. Quickly and carefully remove the croquettes once browned with a spatula or tongs to avoid burning and set aside on a plate lined with kitchen towel (to help drain any excess oil).
• For the suya mayo, mix together the Japanese mayonnaise and suya spice thoroughly.
• Enjoy the croquettes very warm with the suya mayo as a dip.