Ingredients:
For 4 people
• 500 g / 17.6 oz topinambours
• 75 g / 2.6 oz fresh nettle stalks
• 1 egg
• a pinch of nutmeg
• a teaspoon of salt
• 150 g / 5.3 breadcrumbs
Coating
• 1 egg
• 100 g / 3.5 oz of flour
• 100 g / 3.5 oz of breadcrumbs
For frying
• 300 ml / 10 fl oz oil, or a cooker
Preparation:
Clean the topinambours carefully with a brush. Traditional peelers can’t really be used because topinambours are often tiny and their surface tends to be uneven. They are very similar to inger bulbs. Cut them as necessary and cook until soft in salted water. It is important to keep an eye on them, because they get overcooked very easily. One moment they’re hard and the next they’re falling apart! In the meantime, steam the nettles and cut them into small pieces.
Pour away the water from the topinambours and grind them with a fork, add the nettles, one egg, nutmeg and salt. Progressively add breadcrumbs and keep mixing diligently. The resultant mix should be malleable yet rigid. The exact amount of breadcrumbs required varies according to the quality of the topinambours – the place where they were grown, the season when they were harvested, and the site where they were stored. That is why the breadcrumbs should be added progressively until we are content with the consistency of the future croquettes.
Make the mixture into rolls, cover it in flour, eggs and breadcrumbs and fry them in sizzling oil for two minutes on each side. Or you can make them into balls and fry these in a cooker for two or three minutes.
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