Supplì, Roman Deep-Fried Rice Croquette

Supplì is the classic Roman street food that consists in a rice croquette usually served also as an appetizers.
Every roman restaurant, trattoria or rosticceria have Supplì on menu. Although similar to the Sicilian Arancino, the two can be easily distinguished by their different shape and stuffing: whilst arancino is usually a perfect sphere or an egg-shaped ball usually filled with rice, mozzarella, meat ragù and peas, Supplì is shaped like a small cylinder stuffed only with rice cooked in tomato sauce and stuffed with mozzarella.

Supplì appeared for the first time on the menu of a famous trattoria in Via dei Condotti in 1874, Rome.

this is the simplest version of the Supplì, just with rice and tomato and a stringy mozzarella heart. It is for this reason that Supplì are also nicknamed as ‘Supplì al telefono’, namenly ‘on the phone’, because when you open them, the Mozzarella Fior di Latte threads like a telephone wire.

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Makes: 15 supplì | Preparation time: 30 mins | Cooking time: 30 mins

• Carnaroli or Arborio rice: 200 g
• Tomato sauce: 150 g
• Mozzarella Fior di Latte: 150 g
• Red wine: 75 ml
• Eggs: 2
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO): 1 tbsp
• Breadcrumbs: as needed
• Vegetable broth: as needed
• Salt and pepper: to taste
• Peanut oil for deep-frying, 1 lt

Method

Heat up the olive oil and a pan and brown the minced meat for about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and let it simmer until the wine evaporates completely. Pour in the tomato sauce and leave it to cook for 15 minutes.

Add the rice directly to the tomato sauce, pouring in enough vegetable broth to cover the rice completely and adding it a ladle at a time until the rice is completely cooked through.

Tip: Remember to keep the vegetable broth warm throughout the cooking process: adding cold broth could prevent the risotto from cooking properly.

Allow for most of the liquid to evaporate and for the tomato sauce to thicken up before turning off the heat. Transfer the risotto to a large bowl, season it to taste and let it cool down completely before proceeding to the next step.

Dice the mozzarella into small cubes.

Tip: Fior di Latte or simple Mozzarella should be drained slightly to avoid watering down the rice during cooking.

Grease the palm of your hands with a drop of olive oil to prevent the risotto from sticking to it, then take a good handful of risotto and press a mozzarella cube right in the middle of it. Form a cylinder with the risotto and place it on a tray lined with baking paper.

Beat up the eggs in a bowl and place the breadcrumbs in a shallow plate. Dip each risotto ball into the eggs and then roll it over the breadcrumbs until it is coated evenly.

Heat up the seed oil and deep-fry the supplì until they breading takes on a uniform golden colour.

Tip: do not fry them all together, only few at time or this will dramatically lower the temperature of the oil and you will not get a crispy breading.

Remove them from the oil using a skimmer and place them on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Serve warm.

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