The “panzarotti” or potato croquettes are a very tasty traditional recipe from Campania, essential in mixed fried dishes, as an appetizer with pizza, or on the Sunday lunch table. They can be served as appetizers as finger food in a buffet (by reducing their size), as a main course or side dish, and their preparation is very simple. To prevent the breadcrumb coating of the croquettes from falling off during cooking (especially when filled with cheese), we can choose two ways to coat them: dip the potato dough cylinders first in an egg or egg white and then coat them in a mix of breadcrumbs and flour; or if we don’t have eggs or egg whites or don’t want to use them, we can pass them in a fluid batter made of water and flour. The panzarotti can be eaten in many different ways: plain, meaning without filling, flavored only with finely chopped parsley, salt, and pepper; or stuffed with diced cooked or raw ham, salami, mozzarella, diced provola, and anything we like.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: Frying, Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs boiled potatoes (yellow-fleshed)
- 9 oz smoked provola cheese
- 2 medium whole eggs
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground pepper
- to taste chopped parsley
- to taste diced cold cuts (optional)
- 10 tbsps breadcrumbs (also gluten-free)
- 3 tbsps all-purpose flour (or rice flour)
- 2 whole eggs (or just the egg white)
- 5 tbsps all-purpose flour (or rice flour)
- 3 tbsps water
- mix of flour and breadcrumbs as above
Tools
- 1 Potato masher
Steps
1) Prepare the croquettes dough. Start by parboiling the potatoes with their skins on. Once cooked, peel them and pass them through the potato masher twice.
2) Place the potato puree in a large bowl to cool well. Once cooled, prepare two more bowls: one with breadcrumbs and flour, the other with the batter or the eggs or egg whites; finally, a plate to place the freshly formed croquettes and a tray with absorbent kitchen paper.
3) Add finely chopped parsley to the potato puree, one egg (add the next only after adding the other ingredients to avoid the dough becoming too soft), grated cheese, a pinch of salt, pepper, and anything else your imagination suggests.
4) Knead well to blend all the ingredients and let it rest for just a few minutes.
5) Form the croquettes. Take an amount about the size of a tangerine, shape it into small cylinders, make an indentation in the cylinders, and insert one cube of provola.
6) Close them carefully to prevent the cheese from escaping, dip them first in the water and flour batter (or the egg or egg white), then in the breadcrumb and flour mix, and place them on the plate.
7) Cooking the croquettes. After forming all the panzarotti, proceed to fry them in hot deep oil for a couple of minutes on each side or until golden, turning them from time to time. Drain them from excess oil, place them on absorbent paper, and lightly salt them on the surface. Enjoy them with a tasty green salad or with dipping sauces.
Bon appetit
The potato croquettes can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge, already shaped and flavored, with or without the coating, to be fried when needed, ensuring to seal the container well and to remove them from the fridge at least 30 minutes before frying, to prevent lowering the oil temperature too much, which would ruin the frying and the final result.
