Adapted from this:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Mushroom-Croquettes-19067
So one day, I had a LOT of mushrooms leftover that were going to go bad, and some bread ends in the freezer that I really didn’t want to eat. So I looked up a recipe for bread and mushrooms. Played around with the recipe a bit and made myself a yummy snack; took longer for me to cook than I usually cook, but well worth it.
I usually cook by the fridge rather than by the book, and use whatever is leftover in the fridge for cooking; so I tend not to make things the same way every time.
Cook time: (not calculated)
Serving size: 5-6 ‘computer-mouse’ sized croquettes (can’t think of any other size reference, sorry); Enough for 3 small-eaters.
Ingredients:
3 x 227g fresh white mushrooms (FYI, its those little blue boxes you get at the stores)
1/4 large onion (I personally don’t like onions, so instead I substituted red pepper)
1 clove garlic
2 cups breadcrumbs (I usually use about 1 cup of actual bread crumbs, and 1 cup store bought Italian style breadcrumbs)
6 tablespoons of grated cheese
1 large egg
Salt and pepper, to your discretion
3 tbsps olive oil (or substitute, I use canola)
1 (17 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
Directions:
A. Bread Crumbs*
1) Take unused bread ends (because I don’t like eating breadends, normally) and bake in oven at low temp (200F) until hard.
2) Let cool a bit
3) Place in plastic bag
4) Crush up with a rolling pin—or whatever else.
[*Option (1) don’t make bread crumbs at all and use full amount of store bought bread crumbs—beware sodium content and possible saltiness; Option(2) crush up some crackers instead… My housemates and I agree that real bread tastes better…]
B. Chop stuff up!
1) Trim mushroom stems, and remove whatever is not edible from onion/pepper/garlic
2) Coarsely chop 2/3 of the mushrooms and everything else; or put in a food processor…
[**Save 1/3 for the sauce]
C. Cooking!
1) In a large skillet heat 1 tbsp of oil until hot
2) Add mushroom mixture
3) Cook at medium-high heat for about 10 minutes; or until most of the liquid has evaporated (anyone else find it weird that at first, the more you cook mushrooms, the more liquid you get?)
4) Remove from heat and spoon into a large bowl (to save yourself from washing another pan/skillet; reuse in step D)
5) Lightly beat an egg and stir into mixture
6) Add 4 tbsp of grated cheese
7) Add about 3/4 of your breadcrumbs (1 1/2 cups)
8) Mix well and form 6 3-inch long croquettes (or however much they make, tbh I’m not sure, the amount of stuff I’m using always changes)
D: Breading and Frying
1) Place the rest of the bread crumbs (1/2 cup) on a large plate or waxed paper
2) Coat croquettes with bread crumbs
3) Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in large skillet
4) Cook croquettes (on medium heat) on all sides until browned (about 5 minutes each—fit them all on the pan if you can, but I never can)
E: Sauce
1) While frying the croquettes, slice remaining mushrooms (1 box)
2) Heat 1/2 tbsp oil in another skillet
3) Add sliced mushrooms, cook lightly (or well, if you prefer your sauce less chunky)
4) Stir in spaghetti sauce; cook until hot, about 2 minutes
5) Add in various other things~!! like more cheese, if you like cheesier sauce, or ketchup if you want some zing, or sugar if you want your sauce cheesier, or ground beef, if you like meaty sauce…
[I like thicker and chunkier sauce, so sometimes I add in about 1 tbsp of leftover breadcrumbs from the coating]
Serve croquettes
i.e. place on plate, sprinkle some cheese on top; cover with sauce and if you want decorate with parsley or whatever, or put parsley in your sauce; anything goes when you wanna eat…
*I also tried adding in about 1 tbsp of salsa in the croquette mix, and 1 tbsp of salsa in the sauce for an bit of spiciness*
Well~ Enjoy!
