When Briscola Trattoria opens in Crown Heights on Friday, there will be meatballs on the menu. But instead of appearing on top of spaghetti, they will be inside of baked rice. The dish in question is called bomba di Silvia, a stout mountain of tomato-suffused carnaroli encasing a center of mini meatballs and peas to be discovered at the table, with more sauce and meatballs on top for good measure.

Chef Silvia Barban took inspiration for her version from the southern Italian sartu di riso, which is often doughnut shaped and meatball studded, as well as northern Italy’s bomba di riso, historically stuffed with game like pigeon or pheasant. The idea came, in part, from Barban’s upbringing near Milan, with summers spent in Calabria — so she named it after herself.