Oven Baked Panko Crumbed Yellow Split Pea And Chorizo Croquette

I was trying to be creative with some very basic ingredients found in the kitchen... fortunately my attempt at creating something new paid off and a delicious new snack from the tummies' kitchen was born.

If you are a fan of my panko crumbed sweet potato and red lentil patties then you are going to love these golden beauties. They are just as delicious even without the deep frying process hated and shunned by so many - that also means a little healthier and less cleaning up afterwards.

For a vegetarian version, simply replace the chorizo with some button mushrooms but be sure to get rid of the excess liquid after the sauteing stage.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
oven preheated at 200 C (conventional)
makes about 16 
you'll need;
1.5 cups of yellow split peas, cooked until tender, rinsed and drained well
3 large potatoes, boiled till tender, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 chorizo sausages, quartered lengthwise then sliced
2 red chilies, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped
3 tsp of smoked paprika
3 tsp of cumin powder
1.5 tsp of coriander powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of panko (japanese breadcrumbs)
vegetable oil spray

for the spiced yoghurt;
1 small tub of greek yoghurt
juice from half a lemon
1 tsp of cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs of olive oil

Cook lentil until tender, rinse with cold water and drain very well. Boil potatoes until tender, when they are cool enough to handle, peel and roughly chop.

Prepare the onion, garlic, chorizo, chilies and spring onions.

Cook chorizo sausage with a little oil until golden then add in the onion and garlic and continue to cook until onion is soften. If you are using mushrooms, remember to get rid of the excess liquid from the mushroom.

Place lentil and potato chunks in a food processor and blend for 30 seconds, add in the chorizo and onion mixture together with the chopped chili, spring onion spices and seasonings and blend for another 30 seconds, it should be well incorporated but do not blend until you get a mash, check for seasonings. You might need to do this in batches. Remove and chill in the fridge for 2 hours to firm up.

Form mixture into little oval balls and crumb with panko.

Place croquettes onto an oven tray, spay with a little vegetable oil and bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes of until golden.

Serve immediately with some yoghurt sauce on the side.

Do try the recipe soon and let me know what you think!