Saturday 7 March 2015

Pea and potato croquettes - GF and vegan and an attempt at vegan icecream

I'm always searching for new and interesting recipes to cook to add variety to our diet which is ostensibly based on vegetables and pulses!
I came across this one on a website (I think it may have been the government one about eating well??)

Pea and potato croquettes




I roasted 7 smallish potatoes in the oven when I was cooking a cake last week. Once cool enough to handle, I scooped out the flesh into a bowl and mixed in a large cup full of frozen peas, 1 tbsp GF plain flour and 1 tbsp curry powder. I mashed it all together until well combined, then popped the mixture in the fridge to firm up a little.
After about 1 hour, I made breadcrumbs from 2 slices of GF bread and tipped them into a shallow bowl. I shaped the mixture into 12 'sausage' shapes and rolled them around in the breadcrumbs to coat. I then laid them back on the plate and put them back in the fridge whilst I made the sauce.
I chopped an onion and a clove of garlic, which I fried off in a little oil. To this I added 1 tbsp curry powder and some chilli flakes. Then I tipped in a tin of chopped tomatoes along with half a tin of water (thereby swilling out the tomato can). I then added 1 tbsp tomato purée and 1 tsp sugar. I let the tomato mixture simmer on the stove for about 20 mins until thickened and the flavours had developed. In the last 3 minutes of cooking time, I added another good cupful of frozen peas.
To cook the croquettes, I heated 1 tbsp olive oil in a large non stick frying pan on a high heat. The croquettes were added, the heat turned down a little, and turned gently until all the sides were crispy and nicely browned.
The croquettes were served on top of the tomato sauce with a simple side salad.
It made a very economical and tasty meal for six and one which I will certainly use again. I imagine the croquettes and sauce could be made and frozen separately so you could make double quantities.


I also tried to make a vegan ice cream last week. I put a tin of peaches, strained and a tin of coconut milk in a blender with about half a cup of soy yoghurt and a few drops if vanilla essence. This was blended until smooth, then tipped into a suitable container and popped in the deep freeze.
The flavour is nice, but the texture is more like a sorbet. Nevertheless, served with a few raspberries from the deep freeze and a sprinkling of vegan dark chocolate, it makes quite a nice dessert!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Hopefully we'll all have some sunshine to enjoy!

5 comments:

  1. Tasty, and that reminds me it's time for lunch .... my tummy is gurgling!!

    I make the quickest easiest ice-cream ever, simply whizz up frozen banana slices in the food processor, it doesn't even taste that banana - y. It's my go to dessert when LH is having ice-cream, sometimes I add a handful of frozen berries to the mix..

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    1. Thanks I'll give that a go. That is if I can get to the bananas before they eat them all!

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  2. Another of your recipes to add to my list :)

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  3. this is a great recipe. top marks, Thanks for sharing.

    Simon

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