Try these surprising Gluten-free Pumpkin Croquettes with feta this fall with a sweet yet salty flavour with a smooth but crunchy bite.
Croquettes or croquetas comes from the French word: ‘croquer‘. Which means ‘to bite into.’ The world has different recipes, often with potatoes, meat and brown sauce or thick béchamel and some other ingredients… There’s a whole world of croquettes, and today, a new one is born; The pumpkin croquettes with feta!
Air Fryer to the Rescue!
These beauties could be fried, but for our health’s sake, I didn’t use the frying pan… I’ve used my air-fryer instead! If you don’t have one, no problem; pop them in the oven, and the coating will cook beautifully there too.
A tapas like no other for Halloween!
This Gluten-free pumpkin and Feta Croquette are mainly made in Spanish, with no potatoes. Its filling is pumpkin purée, garlic and feta cheese bounded by chickpea flour. The coating is made of pumpkin seeds instead of the usual breadcrumbs. Of course, breadcrumbs would do, too, for this recipe, but I’ve used the seeds to make these round bites gluten-free.
But not quite Spanish…
Unlike Spanish, this recipe doesn’t contain thick béchamel, so you’ll have a smooth interior. It would be best to let the pumpkin purée rest in the fridge for an hour or so to cool and harden it. Making the balls will be easier this way. Otherwise, you can make them with delicate hands or adjust the chickpea flour.
Talking about Chickpea Flour
Chickpea flour is one of the few gluten-free flours dense enough to bind things together. They are often used to secure veggie patties, crepes or fritters. It’s got way more health benefits than plain old white flour. If you want to learn more, check this out!
To Serve with…
This is a tapa dish or an appetizer; it would also suit a lovely green salad! Don’t forget the balsamic vinegar glaze. We love to give it this beautiful contrast of sweet and sour!
Halloween will taste so much better this year with these Pumpkin-feta croquettes. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Croquettes
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 1 k pumpkin (cut into 3cm cubes)
- 100 g feta cheese
- 100 g pumpkin seeds (precooked or dry)
- 3 tbsp chickpea flour
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- salt and pepper (go easy on the salt and strongly on the pepper)
Instructions
- Cut the pumpkin into big cubes, add to a bowl and mix with a whole garlic clove, olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Cook in the oven at 200°C (400F°) for about 30 minutes or until light brown.
- Once cooked, add to blender and mix with the chickpea flour.
- Let rest until cold, about 15 minutes *could leave in the fridge for the next day to make it extra thick.
- Blend the pre-cooked or dried pumpkin seeds.
- Add feta crumbled into the pumpkin mix. (not blended, you want a few chunks) *If too liquid to manipulate, add a bit of chickpea flour.
- Make small balls, and cover them with pumpkin seeds coating.
- Cook another 15 minutes in the oven (or 10 minutes in the air fryer) at 200°C (400F°).
Notes
- Can be kept in the freezer (after coating) and unfroze for 40 minutes before cooking.
- Add a lovely balsamic glaze to it for an extra kick!
8 Comments
OMG these look so good!!! I cannot wait to try
This looks great! My husband is GF and I am always on the look out for delicious recipes.
These look like a perfect fall appetizer. I love that you used the pumpkin seeds to coat the croquettes. Great idea!
What a fantastic Fall appetizer! Can’t wait to serve it to my friends!
What an intriguing recipe! I have used chickpea flour for thickening various vegan recipes and it works really well. Have you ever heard of Shiro wat? It’s a spiced Ethiopian chickpea flour powder that goes really well with pumpkin. I think it would really work in this recipe.
These sound incredible. I love the idea of pumpkin with feta, it’s such a great combination. I haven’t never really worked with chickpea flour, but I’m excited to get some to try these out.
Awesome recipe! I need more tapas in my life, and I have wayyyy more squash than usual in the house, so this came my way at a perfect time. Love the way that salty feta punches hard alongside the sweetness of pumpkin. Cheers!
These sound so unique and delicious. I have an air fryer now, so I’ll ba making them in there – yum!