Creamy Risotto

Halve, peel and chop the onion into ½cm pieces. Roughly chop the parsley. Cut the red chilli in half lengthways, remove the seeds and finely chop. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Cut the bacon into 1cm wide strips (use scissors for this if you want, it's much easier!). Grate the parmesan.

Put a large saucepan of water (amount specified in the ingredient list) on to boil over high heat with the vegetable stock pot and stir to dissolve. Put half the butter in another large pan on medium heat along with a drizzle of oil. Add the onion and bacon. Cook for 5 mins until the onion is soft and the bacon browned. Add the garlic and the chilli (only add a bit if you don't like things too spicy!). Cook for 1 minute more.

Add the rice along with a pinch of salt and a grind of black pepper. Stir to ensure the rice is coated in butter and oil. Cook for 1-2 mins. Add a ladleful of the stock and stir. Once the rice has absorbed the stock, add another ladleful and continue to stir. Carry on adding stock and stirring regularly, until all the stock has been absorbed by the rice. This should take 20-25 mins.

The risotto is ready when your rice is ‘al dente’. Tip: ‘Al dente’ simply means the rice is cooked through but has a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle. Once ready, remove from the heat and add the squash along with three-quarters of the parmesan, the remaining butter and three-quarters of the parsley. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, taste and add more lemon juice, salt and black pepper if necessary.