Quinoa Croquettes with Red Peppers Salsa

"The Incas, who held it to be sacred, referred to quinoa as chisaya mama or 'mother of all grains', and it was the Inca emperor who would traditionally sow the first seeds of the season using 'golden implements'...
In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it a complete protein source, unusual among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest." (source, Wikipedia)

Apart from these nutricional facts, I've really began to like it's taste. Light and fluffy, with slightly nutty taste.
In this recipe it is shaped into cute croquettes with cheese in the center and combined with a delicious salsa I prepared with peppers I brought from Bosnia, the last stop during this summer's vacation. Those peppers smell and taste totally differently from the ones usually available at the market. Travelling back 800 km with this strong smell in the car was fun and I joked that we would arrive home drugged (luckily no one stopped us when crossing the borders.
I try to avoid fried food, but this recipe was well worth breaking this rule. Once in a while, rules have to broken, don't they?



Quinoa Croquettes with Red Peppers Salsa
(from Cucina Naturale magazine)

(4 servings)
* 2 big red bell peppers
* 1 ripe tomato
* 1/2 onion
* 1/2 fresh hot peperoncino
* 10 fresh basil leaves
* 150 g quinoa
* 3 slices of day-old bread
* 2 eggs
* 80 g Provolone cheese
* 2 TBspoons grated Parmigiano cheese
* parsley
* 2-3 marjoram twigs
* a little milk
* salt, pepper, nutmeg
* flour and breadcrumbs
* extra virgin olive oil

Salsa:
Chop the peppers and cook them in a skillet with 2 TBspoons of olive il and finely chopped hot pepper on medium-high heat.
Cut the tomato in half and grate it into the skillet with the peppers removing the skin (use the graters with big holes).
Salt to your taste and add the basil leaves. Cover, lower the heat and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Puree the vegetables using a food mill. If the salsa is too liquid, put it back to heat until it reaches a desired thickness.
Croquettes:
Cut off the crust from the bread slices and chop them roughly. Put them in a bowl and add a little milk, enough to moisten the bread evenly.
While the bread is soaking, cook the quinoa - rinse it well and cook in 350 ml lightly salted water for 10 minutes.
Squeeze the bread well with your hands and crumble finely. Add the cooked quinoa, the grated Parmigiano, the finely chopped parsley and marjoram leaves, a pinch of grated nutmeg, 1 egg, salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix well and, if necessary add a little breadcrumbs to get a compact mixture you can shape into balls (I didn't need any, however).
Cut the cheese into cubes (the recipe calls for Provola cheese, but you can use any semi hard cheese if Provola is not available).
Shape the quinoa mixture into balls and put a cheese cube in the middle of each one.
Flour each ball first, then dip into a lightly beaten egg, and finally roll into breadcrumbs.
Fry the croquettes in deep hot oil, and leave on several layers of kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil (I normally use olive oil for frying, or eventually peanut oil).
Serve the warm croquettes with Red Peppers Salsa.

Crocchette di quinoa con salsa di pepperoni rossi
(da Cucina naturale, luglio-agosto 2011)

(per 4 persone):
* 2 peperoni rossi grandi
* 1 pomodoro maturo
* 1/2 cipolla rossa
* 1/2 pepperoncino fresco
* 10 foglioline di basilico
* 150 g quinoa
* 3 fette di pane raffermo
* 2 uova
* 80 g Provola
* 2 cucchiai di parmigiano grattugiato
* 1 mazzetto di prezzemolo
* 2-3 rametti di maggiorana fresca
* un po' di latte
* sale, pepe, noce moscata
* farina e pangrattato (per impanare)
* olio extra vergine d'oliva

Tagliate a striscioline i peperoni e meteteli a cuocere  a fiamma vivace in padella con la cipolla finemente affettata, il peperoncino e 2 cucchiai d'olio.
Tagliate a metà il pomodoro e grattugiatelo sui peperoni con una grattugia a fori larghi, scartando le bucce.
Salate, aggiungete le foglie di basilico e proseguite la cottura con coperchio per 8-10 minuti.
Passate il tutto al passaverdura. Se la salsa è troppo fluida, fatela restringere su fuoco per pochi minuti.
Alla fine controllate il sale e pepate.

Eliminate la crosta dalle fette di pane, spezzetatelo grossolanamente e in una ciotola copritelo col latte.
Lessate la quinoa con 350 ml d'acqua poco salata per almeno 10 minuti.
Strizzate bene il pane e sbricciolatelo finemente. Unitevi la quinoa cotta, il parmigiano, il prezzemolo e la maggiorana tritati, una presa di noce moscata, un uovo, sale e pepe.
Se necessario, aggiungete un po' di pangrattato per avere una consistenza compatta.
Formate delle crocchette tonde e inserite al centro i cubetti di provola.
Passatele prima nella farina, poi nel uovo battuto e infine nel pangrattato.
Friggetele nel olio ben caldo finché non risulteranno croccanti e dorate.
Scolatele su carta assorbente.
Servite insieme alla salsa di peperoni.

Kroketi od quinoe uz salsu od paprika
(iz časopisa Cucina naturale)

(za 4 osobe):
* 2 velike crvene paprike
* 1 zrela rajčica
* 1/2 glavice crvenog luka
* 1/2 svježe ljute papričice
* 10-ak listića bosiljka
* 150 gquinoe
* 3 kriške starog kruha
* 2 jaja
* 80 g Provole (ili sličnog, polutvrdog sira)
* 2 žlice naribanog parmezana
* svežnjić peršina
* 2-3 grančice svježeg mažurana
* malo mlijeka
* sol, papar, muškatni oraščić
* brašno i mrvice (za paniranje)
* djevičansko maslinovo ulje

 Paprike narežite na prutiće i pirjajte ih na jačoj vatri s 2 žlice maslinovog ulja, sitno nasjeckanim crvenim lukom i ljutom papričicom (ako ne volite pikantno, možete je i izostaviti).
Prerežite rajčicu na pola pa je naribajte u tavu s paprikama (koristite ribež za jabuke, onaj s velikim rupicama), odstranite kožicu. Posolite, dodajte listiće bosiljka, poklopite pa dalje kuhajte na tihoj vatri oko 7-8 minuta. Propasirajte salsu na pasirku za povrće, ako je previše rijetka vratite na vatru da se zgusne. Dosolite ako je potrebno i popaprite po ukusu.
Kriškama kruha odrežite koricu, a sredinu nakidajte i prelijte s malo mlijeka.
Skuhajte quinou u 350 ml malo posoljene vode, 10-ak minuta. Pazite pred kraj jer će quinoa upiti svu tekućinu. Dobro ocijedite kruh i sitno ga izmrvite. Dodajte quinou, parmezan, sitno nasjeckane listiće peršina i mažurana, malo naribanog muškatnog oraščića, 1 jaje, posolite i popaprite.
Sve dobro izmiješajte i ako je neophodno dodajte krušnih mrvica toliko da smjesa bude kompaktna.
Provolu (sir) narežite na kockice. Od smjese od quinoe oblikujte loptice i u sredinu svake utisnite kockicu sira. Kuglice prvo uvaljajte u brašno, zatim u jaje i na kraju u mrvice. Pržite ih u dobro zagrijanom ulju dok nisu zlatne boje i krokantne. Izvadite ih na nekoliko slojeva kuhinjskog papira da se ocijedi višak masnoće. Poslužite krokete uz salsu od paprike.