Ingredients
Risotto
- 350 grisotto rice, carnaroli or arborio
- 1onion, finely chopped
- 150 mlwhite wine
- 1.2 litreschicken or beef stock
- 3 tbsptomato paste
- or 200 ml meat ragù
- 60 gbutter
- 80 ggrated Parmigiano
- salt and pepper
Filling
- 200 gmozzarella, cut into batons
- preferably fior di latte, drained overnight
Coating
- 100 gplain flour
- 3eggs, beaten
- 250 gfine dry breadcrumbs
To fry
- oil, for deep frying
To serve
- immediately, in paper
- with a beer
Directions
- Cook it deliberately drier and stickier than you would serve it. Supplì rice should be sticky enough to be squeezed into a ball and stay there. Fry the onion in butter, add the rice and toast it for 2 minutes. Add the wine and let it evaporate. Stir in the tomato paste or the ragù, then add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring.
- Use a good stock rather than water, since the rice is the bulk of the finished thing and it needs flavour of its own. Cook it until the rice is done but firm, and do not add the last of the stock.
- Beat in the butter and the Parmigiano off the heat. Refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, and overnight is better. Warm risotto is unmanageable and the croquettes fall apart in the oil.
- Cut it into batons and leave it on kitchen paper in the fridge for several hours, or overnight. Wet mozzarella releases water inside the croquette, which turns to steam and bursts it open in the fryer. Take a handful of cold rice, flatten it in your palm, and press a baton of mozzarella into the middle. Close the rice around it and shape it into an oval about 8 cm long.
- Make sure the mozzarella is completely enclosed with no cheese showing at the surface. Squeeze the oval firmly so there are no air pockets inside. Press the breadcrumbs on firmly, unlike a schnitzel, and make sure the ends are covered as thoroughly as the sides. Chill the coated supplì for another 30 minutes.
- Fry them three or four at a time for 3 to 4 minutes until deep golden. Do not crowd the pan, both because it drops the temperature and because a burst croquette makes the oil foam. Turn them so they colour evenly. They are ready when they are deep golden and the cheese has had time to melt through, which is what the timing is really for.
- Drain them on a rack rather than paper. Rest them for a minute, then eat them immediately. Break one open and pull the halves apart slowly to see the string, which is the whole point of the name.
Technique
- Supplì are Roman and arancini are Sicilian, and they are genuinely different things.
- The name descends from the French surprise.
- They freeze well shaped and coated, and fry from frozen with an extra minute.
Substitutions
- Leftover risotto, which is what they were invented for.
- Any good melting mozzarella, drained thoroughly.
Variations
- Cacio e pepe supplì, a modern Roman version.
- Amatriciana supplì.
- Made with a chicken giblet ragù, which is the older Roman filling.
History
Fried rice croquettes whose name comes from the French surprise; the mozzarella inside pulls into a telephone wire when broken.
Frequently asked questions
What is Supplì?
Supplì is a street food from Vatican City: fried rice croquettes with molten mozzarella centers. Fried rice croquettes whose name comes from the French surprise; the mozzarella inside pulls into a telephone wire when broken.
How long does Supplì take to make?
Supplì takes 40 min plus 4 hr chilling of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 16. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Supplì?
Yes, within limits. Leftover risotto, which is what they were invented for. Any good melting mozzarella, drained thoroughly.
What is the most important thing to get right in Supplì?
Use a good stock rather than water, since the rice is the bulk of the finished thing and it needs flavour of its own. Cook it until the rice is done but firm, and do not add the last of the stock.
