Supplì

My blog has caused me to realize that I like Italian food more than any other International food. The reason could also lie in the fact that I am addicted to ItalianFood.Net and watch their cooking videos almost daily.

When I saw this video for supplì (already in the plural form; pronounced [soop-PLEE], based on U.S. English pronunciation), which are fried, stuffed balls of short-grained rice and ragù. When I saw these nuggets of meat, tomatoes, cheese, and rice, I just knew I had to get over my dislike of homemade, fried foods and make them. The chef even says that supplì are one of his favorite treats, so I had to make them.

*UPDATE* Supplì are not arancini, although they are very similar. The latter are shaped differently and do not include ragù (the tomato & beef sauce). Moreover, supplì are said to have originated in Rome and arancini in Sicily. I hope to try out arancini sometime very soon. 

While this dish takes quite a bit of time, it is well worth it in the end. I made the ragù the day before so that the flavors could meld overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, I made the rice mixture and created my assembly line for the coating. I had never fried in olive oil before, but I didn’t notice a huge difference between using any other type of oil.

Anyway, I highly suggest making supplì for a party, your kids, or just because. I halved the recipe and still had enough for 3-4 people (I don’t know why the chef says the full recipe is for four people!). I decided to roll up the supplì you see in the photos and to save the rest of the rice mixture for whenever I want more. That way, the supplì are always fresh. If I don’t feel like making more supplì, I could also just eat the rice mixture as is, which is made almost exactly like risotto. It tastes amazing with or without the coating. Seriously.

I took the last photo while eating my first bite ever of supplì. I almost ended the photo session at that point. LOL! That first bite was amazing.
Ragù alla Bolognese
reposted from here and adapted from Italian Food Net (video)
You only need a FOURTH of this recipe, but I halved it here so that you can have leftovers for other dishes.

1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
4 cups (1 Litre tomato sauce (I used about one box of Pomì crushed tomatoes)
1/2 of tomato paste tube (2.25 oz)
1 big carrot (½ cup) chopped
1 celery rib (½ cup) chopped
1/2 white onion (½ cup) chopped
1/4 cup of red wine (I used about 4 oz of Fre Red Wine, a non-alcoholic wine!! Yeaa!!)
1-2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1-2 Tbsp fresh sage
1-2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Heat a large saucepan. Pour in olive oil. Add celery, carrot, onion, and let them brown over medium heat. Then add sage, rosemary, and cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes.

Add the ground beef, divide it well, and cook until the liquid has evaporated (about 5-10 minutes), then season with salt and black pepper.

After 10 minutes of cooking pour in the red wine, and let it evaporate. Add tomato paste, stir well, and add tomato sauce, cover and let it simmer for 1 ½ hour on a low heat. Make sure you season this sauce well before assembling the lasagne.

Supplì 
Make the ragù ahead of time. You could also form the supplì without coating them ahead of time.


3/4 cups (175 gr) (6.15 oz) short-grained rice (I used arborio. Other suggestions: Carciofi, Bomba)
1 cup (250 gr) (9 oz) ragù (meat and tomato) Sauce (homemade or storebought; can be vegetarian)
1 large egg
50 gr (3.52 oz) cubed mozzarella cheese (enough to put in the small rice balls)
1/4 cup (50 gr) (3.52 oz) finely-grated parmesan
2 Tbsp (30 gr) (2.11 oz) unsalted butter, separated
2 cups (500 ml) beef broth or stock (can use chicken or vegetarian stock)
Enough flour and breadcrumbs to coat (I used Italian breadcrumbs)
Extra virgin olive oil for rice and for frying
Kosher salt to taste

Heat up a pot over medium heat then add 1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of the butter, and let it melt. Once the butter has melted, add rice and toast it for about 2 minutes.

Add enough hot broth to cover the rice and when the broth has almost completely evaporated, continue to add enough broth to cover the rice, and keep doing this until there is no more broth, and the rice has evaporated.

When the rice is cooked al dente, season with salt, add remaining butter, ragù sauce, grated parmesan and stir quickly until becomes creamy. Turn off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

Make your supplì

Break the egg and whisk. Pick up a handful of the rice mixture, mold into small balls, and firmly press it, place a small cube of mozzarella into the center then reshape into a ball. Firmly press the rice giving the typical elongated oval shape.

(In order to not make too much of a mess, I rolled up half of the rice mixture up to this point, and set them aside. That way I did not have to roll each ball through the coatings, wash my hands, and start over.)

Roll the rice ball in flour. Continue molding the rice to give it the elongated oval shape, then dip the supplì in egg, and finally roll it well in breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the rice is used.

Heat extra virgin olive oil, which should be 3 inches deep, in a pot over high-medium heat, then add supplì. Let them fry until golden brown and crisp on all sides, turning over occasionally. When all supplì are golden brown, remove with a slotten spoon and place on kitchen paper to drain the olive oil.

Transfer supplì to a serving dish and offer to your friends. Remember to eat them with hands!

Copyright – Memoria James – http://www.mangiodasola.com

Memoria is a polyglot xenophile from Texas who currently lives in Germany. She teaches English by day and Spanish by night and works on her food, language, and travel blog and Local Language eCourse in between. She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, some German, and a little French. She loves to travel and learn the local language for every country she visits and hopes that she can pass this linguistic desire to others.

Author: Memoria James

Memoria is a polyglot xenophile from Texas who currently lives in Germany. She teaches English by day and Spanish by night and works on her food, language, and travel blog and Local Language eCourse in between. She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, some German, and a little French. She loves to travel and learn the local language for every country she visits and hopes that she can pass this linguistic desire to others.

0 thoughts on “Supplì”

  1. My husband doesn't like me to fry foods often because of the way the house smells, but I know we would all love these. Italiana es mi comida favorita también.

  2. This looks just like one of those crazy recipes that needs to be made right now! Sometimes no matter how much work it is, you just have to do it! Makes me start wondering how much of this I might have laying around already made sometime…
    PS-Thanks for ur kind words to me and Robin. Being transparent and sharing myself and our family has been one of the hardest (and most thrilling) parts of blogging. It is getting easier, thanks to the prodding of my daughters! God bless!

  3. i LOVE these. i'm used to seeing them round rather than oblong (called arancini), but i'll take them in whatever shape they come! they look crispy and oozy and perfect.

  4. Indeed they look like arancini which are very good if a little heavy.

    I've been living 3 years in Modena now – supposedly where you can find some of the best Italian food, but I finally prefer French or Asian (e.g. Indonesian, Chinese, Thai, Indian…) food.

    Nonetheless, it's always delicious a good pasta or risotto.

  5. José Manuel (y Annie) – Yo sí he visto las croquetas españolas (no he visto las croquetas chilenas) y quiero probarlas también. Estoy de acuerdo contigo; las dos croquetas son muy parecidas.

    Michelle – The reason these croquettes are shaped differently is because they are not arancini. I added an update in the post about the difference between the two. Names aside, I am certain that both types are fantastic.

    Sarah – You're right. They are very similar to arancini. I was going to mention that in my post but plum forgot! I added an update, though.

    Beau Lotus – Oh boy, these supplì are heavy, too! I wouldn't be surprised if they were heavier considering the addition of the meat sauce. I am actually very crazy about Indian and Chinese food, but I tend to eat practically the same things over an over. I think I venture out more with Italian because the dishes are usually comprised of the similar ingredients hahaha. I wish I were in Modena! I'm so jealous :).

    Thank you, everyone for your lovely comments!

  6. This looks so good that momentarily I wished I wasn't a vegan. No, just kidding. Well, maybe I'm not. No, not really, but it is a great looking recipe!

  7. Hey Memoria, I was looking at F.G. & my Cauldron Boy reached over and said 'I want that!'. It was your pic of Suppli (smile). The look and sound so wonderful!

  8. Gosh ray! Okay, I see how you are now, Memoria! You wait until I leave to prepare this delicious looking suppli and make me suffer by wishing I had waited a few more days before returning home! In any case, they look great, girl, and I know that when next I see you, you will prepare some for your mama, yes? Please?

  9. Good heavens! It's the cheese in the middle that has me so excited. It's like having a fried rice ball, fried mozzarella and dippingsauce all in one. yum!

  10. Italian is my absolute favorite too!! and those rice balls in all there cheesey goodness, look incredible! the problem would be stopping once you started eating them!

  11. Memoria..OMG, these are even better than arancini. I can almost taste the burst of bolognese sauce and that gooey cheese with the rice. I am so hungry right now, I can't even tell you..and these are what I want! Gorgeous photos too. I wish you had taken part in the DB challenge because I know you would have rocked it completely!

  12. wow, these look so delicious! I'm pretty intimidated by deep-frying but it sounds like these are worth it.

  13. Just finished making arancini filled with gorgonzolla. Waiting to get to my father-in-laws to fry them up to go along with a salad before his pasta dinner. I've never made them before – gooey, but easy…soon to be delicious. I watched Giada make them on foodnetwork yesterday. I'd like to make a dessert one with maybe vanilla, Frangelica, and hazelnuts and dk. chocolate kiss inside!

  14. I keep coming back to this post and each and everytime, my stomach starts to rumble. I guess I will be making this soon. It looks so darn good.

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