Bacon and Butternut squash risotto

While we were in Pavia with Rowena I had a pumpkin risotto and it was delicious, however when I tried it here with the Halloween pumpkins it was disappointing.  I didn't want to give up on the recipe but couldn't find anything but the pumpkins sold for masks, so I decided to use butternut Squash instead and it worked really well.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
Half a butternut squash peeled and finely diced
Half a parsnip peeled and finely diced
1 small onion finely chopped
2 small celery sticks, outer skin removed and chopped finely
2 rashers smoked back bacon, diced
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
150-200g arborio rice
1 small glass dry white wine
750 ml chicken stock
50g Parmesan, finely grated plus a little more to serve
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat the oven to 200°C, line a roasting tin with foil, add the diced Butternut squash and parsnip and drizzle with the tablespoon of olive oil.  Roast for 30-45 minutes on the top shelf until the squash is sift and starts to blacken at the edges.  Once it's cooked, drain and keep the mix warm.

Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan and add the remaining oil and a knob of butter if you wish.  Once the oil is hot, add the bacon, onion and celery and cook on a medium heat to soften them until the bacon starts to brown.  Next add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Finally add the squash and parsnip mix.

Add the rice and mix well with the onion mixture to coat the rice with the oil, then add the glass of wine and heat over  medium flame until the liquid has been absorbed.  Now start adding the stock.  the stock should be kept hot and added a ladle full at a time, then mixed with the rice and boiled until all the liquid has been absorbed.  Continue adding the stock until the rice is cooked to your taste.

Just before serving add the cheese and chopped parsley, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve in large bowls.  As this contains so much vegetable, you don't need to serve it with anything else, but if you wish you can add some green salad leaves - rocket would be good.

Buon Appetito!