Galician octopus croquettes

How to prepare some octopus croquettes.

When cooking the octopus there is always a part that nobody wants, the head. It is not that its taste is bad, but that its difference in thickness with respect to the legs of the octopus loses it.

Being finer it cooks more and always remains a little harder. If you are not too sympathetic I recommend that you do not throw it away, you can use them to prepare croquettes worthy of a gourmet.

And it is that as I have mentioned in some other  octopus recipe ,  this cephalopod is like the pig  takes advantage of everything , nothing is thrown away. Always use quality octopus, like Gallego Pereira’s that never fail, good product, good recipe.

The water makes for an excellent octopus risotto , the onions used in cooking can be used in a cream or seafood pate. You see the octopus itself is used for endless recipes.

In addition you have a recipe with all the secrets to cook the octopus  and that it is in its point, from which I normally separate the head for these croquettes.

This time with the head we are going to prepare some crispy croquettes on the outside and with a delicious sea-flavored filling inside.

I leave you with this very juicy dough cover thanks to the touch of the onion and the   creamy bechamel with liquid cream and a seafood flavor intensified by the cooking water.

I advise you to prepare them in industrial quantities and freeze any that are left over to always have on hand. A great appetizer at any dinner or meal, some yummy croquettes.

Preparation of the base béchamel for the croquettes

1. We sift the flour with a strainer so that later there are no lumps.
2. We put the milk in a saucepan over medium heat for 4-5 minutes without boiling. This will speed up the sauce preparation process.
3. In a saucepan, put the butter and heat over low heat until it melts. It has to turn a hazelnut color and it will remove a little foam that we can remove if we want.
4. In this case I used butter and extra virgin olive oil to equal measures.
5. Add the sifted flour and let it mix until they form small golden-hued doughs. It will help us bind the bechamel.
6. This roasting process is very important so that the béchamel does not taste much like flour, which will happen if it is raw.
7. Mix the flour with the butter very well with a wooden spoon until it is like a ball.
8. Pour the hot milk and the octopus cooking water into the saucepan.
9. Add salt, pepper to taste and ground nutmeg.
10. Stir continuously with a rod, adding little by little the liquid cream (5-6 minutes).
11. We are controlling the temperature, the best thing is to leave the fire to a minimum.
12. There will be a homogeneous mixture and most importantly, without lumps. If you have not controlled this sauce and you have lumps, you can fix it with a touch of a mixer, it will be perfect.

Preparation of the filling that we will combine with the cream of the croquettes

1. For this recipe it is best to use the head and the part that joins it to the legs, even if you want to give it a little more intensity you can add the tips of the legs.
2. These parts are not usually used in Galician octopus , because the thickness at the time of cutting is not ideal, in this way we take advantage of these ugly but very juicy parts for a spectacular filling, with a lot of seafood flavor.
3. In addition to the octopus we are going to add the onions that we have cooked with the octopus.
4. In a blender-chopper glass we add the octopus and with a few touches we chop until we have some homogeneous pieces, they have to be more or less the same so that the mixture is juicy.
5. Once chopped we introduce the onions and chop again.
6. Remember that the onion is already boiled, so that with a touch it stays like a puree, as you can see in the photos.
7. We put everything together with a spoon and taste with salt, rectify with salt and pepper if necessary.
8. Add the octopus to the bechamel. We stir a few minutes at the minimum temperature in the kitchen.

Preparation of the octopus croquettes. Form, frying and final presentation

1. In a source greased with butter and sprinkled with flour, add the croquettes.
2. We cover with plastic wrap type paper so that the upper part does not dry out and once it has cooled we put the source in the fridge.
3. In cold the dough pulls more and is handled better, we must leave it in the fridge for at least a day and thus we can mold the croquettes correctly.
4. For breading, they are shaped with two spoons or by hand depending on how the béchamel has turned out.
5. We spend them on a plate with beaten egg and then on breadcrumbs, which is as crispy as possible.
6. If you can prepare it much better homemade, because that way you choose the type of bread that you like the most.
7. Some of the best croquettes I’ve ever had were battered with Cea bread, just amazing.
8. We are depositing them on a plate without them sticking to each other and we leave them for an hour in the fridge.
9. Fry the croquettes in plenty of extra virgin olive oil until golden.
10. With the measurements of this recipe about 25 croquettes come out. If you are few at home, as is my case, you can freeze the ones that you are not going to eat, always without frying.

And they are ready, do you find it a difficult recipe? It is not at all, when they have been prepared once then you come out with your eyes closed.

Be sure to enjoy all the recipes for fish and seafood that we have on the blog.

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for octopus croquettes .  Do not miss any detail so that they come out perfect.

Tips for some yummy octopus kibbles

• I personally like to give a touch to these croquettes with ground bay leaf. It reminds me of seafood cooking, but it is optional, depending on whether you like it or not.
• To freeze kibbles, place them in a platter (not heaped), put them in the freezer and after 12 hours when they are like stones, separate them and keep them in a clean and closed plastic bag.
• To fry them it is not necessary to defrost them. Fry in very hot oil for 2 minutes, moving the pan back and forth to avoid having to touch them.
• Do not forget to enjoy all the types of croquettes that we have as appetizer recipes , as a first or even as a delicious dinner.
• You can already prepare a lot of recipes with octopus, from the classic Galician octopus , to an original  baked octopus , as they do in Mugardos, to Mugardesa (in the form of a stew), to Sochantre  or in a rice or risotto of octopus.
• Use your head  to make croquettes , a filling from lasagna or cannelloni. Lots of ideas to enjoy that delicacy.