Ingredients for 16 croquettes
For the croquettes:
- 600g Arbi cod fillets
- 2 whole eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 60g grated cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- 6 slices white bread
- 1 bunch parsley
- extra virgin olive oil (for frying)
- flour (for breading)
- breadcrumbs (for breading)
- salt and pepper
- peel of half a lemon or half a teaspoon ground ginger
For Maltese sauce:
- 50g mayonnaise
- juice 1 small orange
- saffron 0.1g
- grated zest
- grapefruit can also be used instead of orange (optional)
Preparation of the croquettes
Defrost the cod, put in the blender fish, diced white bread, garlic cloves, whole eggs, salt, pepper, chopped parsley, grated cheese, zest of half a lemon or half a teaspoon of ginger and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Blend everything until you have obtained a smooth mixture.
Make balls about the size of a ping pong ball and flatten them with the palms of your hands, the mixture will be easy to handle and soft. Meanwhile, heat the extra virgin olive oil (about 1 cm deep), in a frying pan then coat the blended mixture with flour, dip in the egg yolk and finally in the breadcrumbs. Cook in the hot oil. When the croquettes are well browned on both sides, remove from the oil with a skimmer, drain well and place on straw paper, drying and dabbing the croquettes with absorbent paper or normal kitchen roll.
Preparing the Maltese sauce: squeeze the half orange, dissolve the saffron and gently incorporate everything with the mayonnaise - ready-made or, even better, home-made (*). Sprinkle with grated orange zest and if you want add a few strips of thinly cut zest as decoration. For a stronger taste, you can use the juice of half a grapefruit instead of orange juice.
Serve the cod croquettes in a straw paper cone with the Maltese sauce on the side in a small bowl. You can offer them as a tasty starter or to accompany an appetiser, perhaps making smaller croquettes, or as an appetising main course.
Wine pairings: given the simplicity of these croquettes and the lightness of the sauce, you can pair with a Bianco delle Cinque Terre doc or a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi doc.
(*) mayonnaise
Ingredients for 300 grams mayonnaise: 2 egg yolks, 50 ml of oil, a few drops of white wine vinegar, a teaspoon of lemon juice, salt to taste.
Preparing the sauce: Put the egg yolks in a large bowl, add the salt and vinegar, beat everything with an electric whisk. Drizzle in the oil while continuing to beat with the whisk, making the egg yolks emulsify well with the oil. When the mayonnaise is whipped and has reached its classic appearance, add the lemon, mixing everything well.
