Rice is a glorious grain: cheap, filling and versatile. I often cook a big batch of short-grain brown rice at the weekend, to base some meals on during the week (batch cooking is also a great way to save energy).

Pre-cooked rice can be upcycled into instant scrumptious salads with the simple addition of nuts, seeds, chopped herbs, dried fruit and/or grated vegetables. Or make an onigiri wrap or sushi roll with cold rice, a dab of wasabi and your filling of choice – just a few finely chopped seasonal vegetables and sesame seeds will do. When you have precooked rice and nori to hand, these are relatively quick to make, and very transportable. And if you want something hot, reheat the cooked rice in a microwave, or steam, or fry with vegetables. Or go a step further and make today’s decadent arancini.

If you have excess cooked rice, leave it to cool down, then cover and refrigerate as soon as possible: rice keeps for at least three days in the fridge, but can be harmful if left at room temperature.

Arancini

These delightful little balls of pleasure transform leftover rice into a truly pleasurable nibble. They are perfect without any filling, but they are also a good way to use up other leftovers: experiment with different cheeses or add fried diced vegetables such as mushrooms, carrots and fennel. Stir everything through the rice, form into balls, perhaps wrapped around more cheese, then roll in flour, eggwash and breadcrumbs, and fry. Makes six.

1 good glug virgin or light olive oil

½ onion, finely diced

½ stick celery, finely diced

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

Salt and black pepper

250g cooked rice or leftover risotto, refrigerated

30g parmesan, grated

60g mozzarella, cut into six pieces

30g flour

1 egg, beaten

50g breadcrumbs or crushed stale potato crisps

Oil, for deep-frying

Heat the oil in a small saucepan over a medium flame. Add the onion, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt, and fry, stirring, for five minutes. Remove from the heat, tip into a bowl with the cold rice and parmesan, mix everything well until it sticks together and season to taste. Divide the mixture into six portions, and form each one into a firm ball around a 2cm piece of mozzarella. Roll the balls in the flour, shake off any excess, roll in the egg, shake off any excess, then roll in the crushed potato crisps or breadcrumbs, to coat.

On a medium heat, bring a small saucepan one-third full of frying oil to 170C (test the temperature by dropping a small piece of rice or a crumb into the oil – if it bubbles to the surface, the oil is ready). Carefully lower the arancini into the hot oil, fry for two to three minutes, or until golden-brown, and enjoy. If you have any leftover egg, flour and crisps, mix them all together and fry as a small omelette snack to have alongside the arancini.