Photo by Chelsea Kyle
Traditionally, this dish was made with short-grain rice, Arborio or Carnaroli, that’s been boiled in salted water with a little oil, and that’s how I make it here. If you have leftover risotto, you can use that instead of starting from scratch with the rice. On the other hand, if you have leftover Bolognese sauce, you can skip making the ragù; all you need do is to add some peas and a little water to the sauce and simmer until the peas are tender and the sauce is dense, not runny. The recipe for the ragù below makes about 3 cups, approximately twice as much as you’ll need. Either freeze the remaining ragù for your next batch of rice balls, or enjoy the sauce over pasta like rigatoni or penne.
