I just read Doug’s post for the Mashed Potatoes with Milk and Parmesan Cheese. I cannot imagine not loving mashed potatoes! This recipe was the base for my recipe for the Potato Croquettes. I made the mashed potatoes first, and was afraid there would be no potatoes left to make the croquettes. Somehow my spoon kept sneaking into the bowl and then into my mouth.
For this recipe, you make the mashed potatoes, then mix in an egg yolk. You scoop out small balls of the potatoes, then roll them in a mixture of flour and crushed very thin noodles. Then you fry them. Very simple, unless you’re like me and thought you had an ingredient you didn’t. I had asked my husband to go to the store for me and pick up a few items. One of those things was angel hair pasta. I have tons of different pastas in the house, but none that thin. The problem was I rewrote the shopping list for him, and somehow left off the pasta. So when I had the mashed potatoes done and was mixing up the coating, there was no pasta in my grocery sack. So I scrambled trying to figure out what to do. I had some orzo. It was about the right length, and I thought would be thin enough. It wasn’t. Don’t make these with orzo. When you fry the croquettes, the pasta won’t cook properly and the pasta will be too crunchy. This was no fault of Marcella’s, it was my mistake. I think these would have been delicious otherwise. How can you go wrong with mashed potatoes and a fried crunchy coating?
I made these last night, and had no time to make them again today with the correct pasta. Forgive me Marcella for making a mistake with your recipe. I guess that will happen to all of us at some point in time. But boy, were those mashed potatoes good!