Suppli......It's For You!

I have to come to discover...and naturally love...on of Rome's street food treasures. Suppli. Suppli is a delicious treat mainly consisting of rice, cheese, and bread crumbs all deep fried. What's not to love about a piping hot, filling, deep fried snack? Suppli al Telefono, the full name for this fritter, comes from a common name that just kinda stuck. After you take a bite the mozzarella in the middle tends to form long strings that have always reminded people of telephone lines. The name kinda stuck from there. I have only had a few suppli in my time in Rome, while delicious it's probably not the best snack to turn to for your waistline. My first (pictured below) was from one of our favorite pizza places near our school, Zucchero e Farina.

My second place for suppli came on a recommendation from friends. I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but it comes from a place called VIP (Very Italian Pizza). Terrible I know, and as a resident of Rome for 4 months I vowed to never enter such a blatantly touristy place. However, I have to say their suppli was excellent, I was very impressed. You'll notice I have mentioned two pizza places. This is the most common place to find suppli on the street and now that I have become aware of them I have seen very few pizza places without them. I highly recommend suppli as a part of anyone's Roman experience and I feel even better about saying so considering I can provide a fairly easy recipe to those of you who may never make it here.  I haven't tried it myself, I only stumbled upon it yesterday In my Food History textbook, but with using similar ingredients I have a hard time imagining it could be bad.

The following recipe comes from "Food and Culture in Italy" by Fabio Parasecoli

Rice Croquettes (Suppli al Telefono)

2 tablespoons butter
1 pound short-grain rice
4 cups hot beef broth
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
5 eggs
1 tablespoon minced parsley
nutmeg
2 ounces boiled ham, diced
1/4 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, diced
1 cup flour
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying
salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the rice and stir till it is translucent. Add a ladle of broth and simmer until absorbed, stirring occasionally. Keep on adding broth ladle after ladle, always waiting for the broth to be absorbed before adding more broth, until the rice is almost done. Add a third of the grated parmigian reggiano and stir. Remove the rice from the heat, spread it on a wet marble surface (or a large cutting board). and let it cool completely. When it is cold, put it in a big bowl and mix it with the remaining parmigiano reggiano, the eggs, a pinch of nutmeg, the parsley, and salt. Make small, elongated balls with the rice mixture, inserting a piece of diced ham and mozzarella in the center of each. Beat the remaining 2 eggs in a small bowl. Dip the rice ball in the flour, the n in the beaten eggs, and then in the bread crumbs. Fry in abundant oil and serve the suppli hot.

Enjoy!