Rissoles is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic starter of puff pastry scraps that are rolled out, filled with rounds of croquet meat, cut into squares and deep fried to cook. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Rissoles.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Rissoles that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 314.—RISSOLES.
Take about half a pound of trimmings of puff paste ; give it three turns or folds ; roll it out to the thickness of a new penny piece; place small balls of croquet meat at distances of about two inches from each other; moisten the paste round these with a brush dipped in water; fold the flap of the front part of the paste over the balls; press all round them with the edge of the thumb; cut them out with a fluted round tin cutter, and, as you do so, place the rissoles upon a floured dish : thus having cut out a sufficient number for your purpose, fry them in hot fat; dish them up with fried parsley, on a napkin, and serve hot.
Place the pastry trimmings together and roll out on a floured work surface. Take one end of the pastry and fold it 1/3 of the way over the remaining pastry. Now fold the uncovered end over the fold you've just made to form a three-layer sandwich. Roll the pastry out again then repeat the folding and rolling process twice more.
After this, roll the pastry out to about 3mm thick. Take small balls of the croquet meat and place these at a distance of about 5cm from each other over one half of the pastry. Moisten the pastry around these balls with a brush dipped in water then fold over the free flap of pastry and press all around the balls to seal with the edge of your thumb.
Cut the rissoles out with a fluted pastry cutter. As you cut each rissole out, drop in a deep fryer or wok with deep fat heated to 180°C. As soon as the pastry is golden, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Serve garnished with fried parsley.
