Blue cheese, bulgur, quinoa and herb croquettes
6
Easy
30 minutes
20 minutes
Ingredients
- 250 g bulgur wheat, prepared according to package instructions
- 1 free-range egg
- 30 g Parmesan, finely grated
- 30 g cooked red quinoa
- 30 g cooked white quinoa
- 10 g parsley, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 thumb-tip-sized balls of blue cheese
- Sunflower oil, for deep-frying
- Wild rocket, for serving For the pickled pears:
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 cup hanepoot
- ½ cup water
- 80 g sugar
- 2 g saffron (optional)
- 6 pears, peeled For the bean and pecan nut salsa, mix:
- 80 g cooked black-eyed beans
- 40 g blanched raisins
- 60 g pecan nuts, diced
- 5 T olive oil
- Juice of ¼ lemon
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste For the Parmesan dressing:
- 2 T white wine vinegar
- ½ t fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 free-range egg yolk
- 1 T Dijon mustard
- 40 g Parmesan
- 1¼ cups olive oil
- Sea salt, to taste
Method
Add the egg and Parmesan to the soaked bulgur wheat and beat vigorously using a wooden spoon. Add both the quinoas and the parsley and continue beating. Season to taste.
Scoop ½ cup of the mixture onto a sheet of cling film. Top with another sheet of cling film and roll the dough to form a disc of approximately 10 cm in diameter.
Remove the top layer of cling film, place a blue cheese ball in the centre of the disc and gather up the sides. Squeeze it together to form a neat parcel. Repeat with the remaining quinoa mixture and blue cheese.
Deep-fry the croquettes in 180°C oil until golden, then drain on kitchen paper.
Break open a couple of the croquettes, allowing the cheesy centres to ooze out; leave the rest whole. Arrange on a plate alongside slices of pickled pear and a few leaves of wild rocket.
Drizzle with the salsa and dressing and serve immediately.
To make the pickled pears, place the vinegar, hanepoot, water, sugar and saffron, if using, in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add the pears, reduce the heat and poach for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they can be easily pricked with a knife. Allow to cool, then slice and remove the cores.
To make the Parmesan dressing, place the vinegar, rosemary, egg yolk, mustard and Parmesan in a jug blender and blend on a high speed.
With the blender running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream to create a creamy dressing. Season to taste with salt.