Supplì: Rome’s Most Iconic Street Food

‘Supplì al telefono’ are more than just a street food—they’re a Roman institution. Golden and crunchy on the outside, soft and rich on the inside, these deep-fried rice croquettes have a heart of melting mozzarella that stretches like a telephone cord when you break them in half—hence the name. We say, 10 times better than arancini!
 
This week we bring another authentic recipe of the traditional Italian cuisine, made for you with love and care…and our cinematic signature.
 
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INGREDIENTS:
 
• 240g | 8.5oz carnaroli rice
• 250g | 8.8oz minced beef
• 500g | 17.6oz tomato passata
• 40ml | 1.41fl oz white wine
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 125g | 4.4oz mozzarella cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1L | 35.20fl oz sunflower oil
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 small white onion
• ½ red onion
• 1 small bunch of parsley
• 1.5L | 52.79fl oz water
• Plain flour as necessary
• Breadcrumbs as necessary
• Black pepper to taste
• Fine and coarse sea salt
• Extra virgin olive oil
 
STEP by STEP:
 
1. To prepare your ‘soffritto’ trim, peel and chop finely half a stalk of celery, half a carrot and the small white onion
2. Pour a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil in a pot and sizzle your soffritto for 3 to 4 minutes, adding a pinch of sea salt and stirring thoroughly
3. Break by hand the minced beef and add it to the pot, adjust the salt and, with the help of a wooden spoon, keep breaking the chunks of minced meat while stirring
4. Add the tomato paste and mix it thoroughly, then pour in the white wine and let it evaporate slowly
5. Then pour the tomato passata in, season with sea salt and black pepper to taste and let it cook for at least 2 hours with a lid on
6. TIP: to make sure the sauce does not reduce too much and burn at the bottom of the pot while cooking, fill the passata container with water, stir to rinse it and pour the tomatoey water in the pot!
7. And just like that you have already made a fantastic every day Bolognese sauce!
8. While the sauce cooks, prepare the broth by adding half a celery stalk, half a carrot, half a red onion, coarse sea salt, and a small bunch of parsley to 1.5L | 52.79fl oz of water
9. Let it boil for at least 30 minutes and then keep it simmering on the lowest heat, you do not want it to reduce too much, but you need it hot to cook the rice!
10. When both the sauce and the broth are ready, pour the rice in a pan on medium heat, and toast it until you can no longer touch it with your hand. Use Carnaroli or Arborio varieties, they are starchy and perform well when making risotto, do not attempt this with long grain or basmati!
11. When the rice is toasted pour it into the sauce and stir thoroughly to let every grain absorb that delicious Bolognese
12. Add ladles of broth little by little, and stir consistently until the rice is fully cooked…and just like that you will have Risotto Bolognese!
13. But we are not through yet, so pour your rice on a flat surface and spread it thin so that it can cool down faster
14. While the rice cools down, cut the mozzarella in chunky strips and leave it to drain its serum for as long as possible. Drier mozzarella will perform best when deep-fried!
15. When the rice reaches room temperature, prepare the coating into 3 separate bowls: pour bread crumbs in one, plain flour in a second one, and in the third one crack 4 eggs and whisk as if you were preparing a omelette
16. Then divide your spreaded rice into 8 sections, collect each section at a time into one hand, adding with the other hand a heart of mozzarella strips
17. Seal the rice ball thoroughly, and roll into an egg shape croquette long circa 10cm | 3.9 inch
18. Then move onto the coating, making sure that each croquette follows this sequence: roll into flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then egg again and finally into bread crumbs one last time
19. Make sure each time you roll it in each ingredient that all sides are fully covered, and the coating ingredient is well absorbed
20. Congratulations! You have made your first Supplí, now store them in the fridge for at least 1 hour to let the coating harden
21. Bring the sunflower oil to frying temperature in a small and deep pot, and deep fry a couple of supplí at a time
22. Deep fry until golden brown, dab them on kitchen paper to absorb the excessive oil, and salt while they are still hot, this way the crispiness will stay irresistible!
23. When all of them are fried, dabbed and salted, leave them for a few minutes to cool down before serving…then enjoy! 😋
 
#BologneseLovers #NonnaApproved
 
To all foodies and lovers of Mediterranean flavors and easy homemade recipes like yourself, find inspiration and simple tutorials on our website below.