Suppli is a Roman dish similar to Arancini. They are typically stuffed with rice and cheese, battered and fried. This version is inspired by Chef Gabriele Bonci’s spaghetti suppli – fried spaghetti balls with sauce and cheese!
Ingredients
- 12 oz dried Bucatini (you can use regular spaghetti but bucatini holds more sauce because of the hole in the center and therefore makes a better, saucier suppli)
- Tomato sauce (you can really make any sauce for this like Amatriciana, Carbonara, Pesto, etc… but I did a classic tomato sauce, find a simple recipe by Eataly here) + reserve for dipping
- 4 cups breadcrumbs
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 4 cups flour
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Sea salt
- Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano for garnish
Process
- In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook Bucatini until al dente.
- In a separate pot, make sauce according to recipe or get creative and make your own!
- Add cooked pasta to your sauce, stir to combine and place on a rimmed baking tray.
- Put pasta tray in the fridge and allow to cool for atleast 2 hours. It will cool more evenly if it’s spread out on a flat sheet and not in a pot.
- Once pasta is cold, heat vegetable oil in a frying pan or dutch oven (about 2-3 inches deep) and assemble your breading station. You’ll need 3 separate bowls. Fill one bowl with beaten eggs, one bowl with flour and one bowl with bread crumbs. From left to right it should be flour, eggs, breadcrumbs.
6. This part is TRICKY! Forming spaghetti into balls is very difficult! Scoop a handful of the cold spaghetti and cup it in your hands, forming an oval shape and squeezing. This is sort of like forming a meatball… but definitely not as easy.
7. Once you have some sort of form, coat in the flour and squeeze into a tighter oval ball. The flour helps to hold the shape more.
8. Next, dip in the egg wash, squeeze again. Dip in the breadcrumbs and coat and squeeze. You should have a good shape once you’ve coated in the breadcrumbs.
9. Repeat dipping in egg wash and breadcrumbs once more and place in the fryer.
10. Only place 2-3 suppli in the fryer at a time, do not over crowd.
11. Place fried suppli on a plate covered with paper towels and salt immediately.
12. Serve hot with freshly grated cheese and a dipping sauce of your choice!
