This wonderful vegan, gluten-free recipe can be whipped up in 30 minutes with just a handful of ingredients. Perfect as a finger food, or to simply jazz up your weekday menu, these croquettes are also a great way to achieve your daily 5 servings of veggies as they can pack a lot of them! Plus, they are also really delicious.
I personally love millet in all its varieties. It's one of my favourite cereals - gluten-free in its natural form, rich in protein, fiber, and antioxidants, and a great alternative to pasta or rice.
As I'm back home in Sicily for a few days, I made these millet croquettes for my parents the other day, and they loved them!
You can choose to pan-fry or bake them. I pan-fried mine this time, but either way they'll hold together quite nicely thanks to the sticky consistency of cooked millet. This also means you don't need to add any binding element such as eggs or starch or flour to shape them.
Ingredients (for 4 as a side or light dinner)
250g pearl millet
2 cups water
A dash of white wine
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, diced small
50g green peas, fresh or frozen
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped finely
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a wide pan, toast the millet for a couple of minutes until it smells fragrant. Add a dash of white wine and increase the flame to high for a few seconds to let the alcohol evaporate, then return the flame to medium. Add the water, salt, and cook covered on a medium-low flame for 20 minutes or until all the water has evaporated.
Spread the millet on a tray to let the steam escape and the millet cool down.
In the meantime, prepare the veggies. Heat the oil to a pan and add the chopped onion. Sautè for 2 minutes or until the onion turns translucent, then add the carrot and peas. Season with salt, pepper and cook, adding a splash of water if needed, for 7-8 minutes or until the veggies are nearly cooked but still a bit crunchy. Set aside.
Mix up the millet, veggies, adjust salt and season with pepper. Wet your hands and shape the mixture into nuggets by pressing them in between your palms.
Shallow-fry them in batches and enjoy warm or cold.
Buon appetito!