Liam Charles’ recipe for New Year’s Eve banoffee trifle

Let’s set the scene: you’re hosting a New Year’s Eve party. You still have hours until the big countdown begins, but you’ve forgotten to make a dessert. Never fear: there’s hardly any cooking involved in this banoffee trifle, and it’s all about the celebration – just stick a few sparklers in it and get back to the party. Have an easy, happy new year.

Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 12

For the toffee sauce
150ml double cream
40g unsalted butter
50g light muscovado sugar
¼ tsp fine sea salt

For the brittle
230g caster sugar
20g unsalted butter
150g mixed nuts, roughly chopped

For the trifle
600g extra-thick double cream
100ml Baileys
400g chocolate digestives, broken
5 large bananas, peeled and sliced
2 x 500g ready-made vanilla custard

To finish
75g dark chocolate, grated

Melt the cream, butter and sugar in a medium-sized saucepan, then leave it to bubble and turn a toffee sauce-like colour. Add the salt to taste, and set aside.

Put four tablespoons of water into a saucepan and slowly add the caster sugar, stirring with a whisk or spatula, until combined. Cook over a medium heat until the sugar turns a deep amber colour. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the butter. Tip in the nuts and stir until they’re well-coated in the sugar.

Carefully pour the sugary nuts on to a silicone mat or a tray lined with baking paper and leave to cool. Once cool, smash into shards.

Mix the cream with three tablespoons of Baileys and set aside. Divide the broken biscuits over the bottom of a large dish. Drizzle more Baileys over the biscuits, top with the sliced banana, custard and Baileys-infused cream. Squiggle over some caramel sauce and finish with grated chocolate. Pop in the fridge until needed. When ready to serve, top with shards of brittle (and some sparklers).

Thomasina Miers' recipe for Thai curry with partridge and squash

My local market has been exquisitely decorated with squashes and pumpkins this autumn. I marvel at their knobbly, non-conformist shapes and sizes, and their stunning range of colours.

If ever there was a time for embracing variety in our vegetables, it is now: global seed companies are increasingly trying to shrink the varieties available to us, both to buy and to grow. Here, I am pairing the sweetness of squash with the gentle flavour of partridge.

Thai peanut coconut curry with partridge and squash

If you are squeamish about jointing a bird, ask a friendly butcher to help. I find this is a brilliant way to cook partridge or pheasant, yielding a tender, succulent bite.

Prep 20 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4-6

3 partridges, jointed (or other small game birds, such as pheasant; use guinea fowl out of game season)
Salt and pepper
5 tbsp coconut oil
1 medium-sized squash, peeled and diced
4 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
1 stem lemongrass, tough outer layer discarded and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large thumb ginger, peeled
150g-200g good-quality red curry paste, to taste
2 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce

To serve
Peanuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Coriander leaves
1 plump lime, juiced

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/gas 7, then season the partridge. Heat two tablespoons of the coconut oil in a deep, wide casserole dish and brown the partridge skin side down. You should do this in two to three batches, for a minute or two per batch. Set aside the partridge, tip the squash into the same casserole dish, season generously and stir to coat in the hot fat. Roast for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

Put the shallots, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, curry paste and peanut butter in a blender or food processor with a tablespoon of water, and blitz to a paste. Warm the remaining coconut oil in a medium saucepan, gently fry the paste for seven to eight minutes, then add the coconut milk, 100ml water and fish sauce.

Take the squash out of the oven. Bring the sauce to simmering point, pour it over the squash and stir in the partridge legs. Roast for 10 minutes, then add the breasts and cook for a final 10-15 minutes, until the partridge is tender and the squash cooked through.

Serve on a bed of steamed rice, sprinkled with peanuts, coriander and fresh lime juice.

Beef rib boulangere recipe

It was the first properly cold morning of autumn when we set about making this deeply comforting dish. Layers of potato and cheap, bone-in meat for a night when the chestnut leaves are piling up in the lane outside the house. The hands-on cooking time here is minimal, involving little more than the slicing of onions and Maris Pipers, but the unattended cooking time, when the recipe gets on with things itself, is a good two hours. The dish is all the better for that, the flavours deepen and the separate elements – the meat, stock and potatoes – become, deliciously, as one.

During the layering of meat and potatoes I like to tuck in the stripped rib bones, and in so doing extracting every last bit of goodness and savour from them. On the side, a crisp white cabbage salad, perhaps (olive oil, white wine vinegar, dill), and some bread with which to sponge up the herb-stippled juices.

Serves 6
beef short ribs 1.4kg
olive oil 4 tbsp
onions 3 medium
thyme 8 sprigs
rosemary 4 bushy sprigs
bay leaves 4
black peppercorns 8
beef stock 2 litres
large potatoes 1kg

Cut the beef into ribs. Warm the oil in a large, deep-sided pan, then brown the ribs all over, taking care as they may spit and pop. Turn the ribs over with kitchen tongs as they colour, removing them to a plate when their fat is golden.

Peel and thinly slice the onions then put them into the pan in which you have just browned the beef, adding the thyme, rosemary, bay and peppercorns, and lower the heat to moderate. Let the onions cook, giving them the occasional stir, for about 20 minutes, until they are soft and light gold.

Return the beef ribs to the pan, together with any juices from the plate, then pour over the beef stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat so the liquid quietly putters, partially cover with a lid, and leave for 1 hour or until the meat can easily be cut from the bones.

Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Remove the ribs from the pan and pull the meat from the bones. Slice the potatoes thinly, using a mandoline if you have one, a large cook’s knife if not. In a large, shallow baking dish or roasting tin, layer the potatoes and the meat and onions, seasoning each layer as you go with salt and black pepper, then pour over the stock from the pan.

Bake for an hour to 90 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and giving.

Grilled leeks and spring onions with dolcelatte and pickled onions recipe

This is an intense starter with sweet, sour and oniony tones. A slice of good bread alongside is almost mandatory. The three main elements – the leeks and spring onions, the cheesy cream and the pickled onions – can all be made a few hours ahead of time (the cream needs refrigerating, mind) and put together at the last minute.

Prep 5 min
Cooking 25-30 min
Serves 4

½ red onion (about 60g), peeled and very finely sliced (use a mandoline if you have one)
1½ tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp caster sugar
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp coriander seeds
⅛ tsp black peppercorns, roughly crushed
¼ tsp pink peppercorns
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 leeks, trimmed, cut in half lengthways and then into 6cm-long pieces (450g net weight)
60ml olive oil
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed, cut in half lengthways and then into 6cm-long pieces (75g net weight)
60g mascarpone
30g dolcelatte (or gorgonzola dolce)
1½ tbsp double cream
5g chives, cut into 2cm lengths

Put the first eight ingredients in a small bowl with an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Thoroughly massage the onions in the mixture, then leave to pickle for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Lay the leeks cut side up on a 25cm x 35cm oven tray and season with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Drizzle over two and a half tablespoons each of the oil and of cold water, and roast for 15 minutes, until the leeks are beginning to soften and blacken around the edges. Scatter the spring onions over the leeks, add a pinch of salt and half a tablespoon of oil, and return to the oven for eight minutes. Turn the oven grill to its highest setting, then grill the vegetables for four minutes until they are charred and soft, but not burned. Leave to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk the mascarpone, dolcelatte, cream, a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper until combined and smooth.

Once the leeks and spring onions are cool, use a fish slice to slide them on to a serving platter (so keeping the leeks cut side up). Drop dollops of the cheese-and-cream mixture haphazardly all over the vegetables.

Combine the chives with the remaining tablespoon of oil, then dribble all over the top of the vegetables and cheese. Spoon on the pickled onions (including their pickling liquid and aromatics), and serve at room temperature.

Liam Charles’ recipe for messy Eton traybake

It took me a while to like Eton mess – that classic combination of cream, berries and meringue. But as soon as the penny dropped, I started to think of other ways you might possibly put it together. So check this out. Trust me, it’s not that messy – it’s full of all those great summer ingredients, but all levelled up.
The messy Eton traybake

Leave the traybake to cool completely before spreading on the Eton cream, then grate on the white chocolate as if it were cheese.

Prep 30 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 12

200g unsalted butter
115g golden caster sugar
110g light brown sugar
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
3 tbsp whole milk
150g vanilla yoghurt
1 tsp almond extract
300g raspberries

For the Eton cream
400ml double cream
4 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
100g raspberries, halved
200g strawberries, hulled and quartered
6 meringue nests, roughly crushed
50g white chocolate, chilled

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and grease and line a 20cm x 30cm baking tray with baking paper. Combine the butter and both sugars and beat until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and baking powder, and in another bowl, mix the eggs and milk. Add this to the butter mixture and combine well, then slowly add the flour and mix again. Spoon into the tin, level the top and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the yoghurt and almond extract, then, when ready, take the cake out of the oven, and quickly spoon the yoghurt over the cake. Scatter over the raspberries and pop the cake back in the oven for another 20 minutes, until a metal skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tray for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Eton cream, whip together the cream, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form, then fold in half the raspberries and strawberries. Roughly spread the cream over the surface of the cooled cake, then top with the remaining fruit and the crushed meringue. Grate over the white chocolate, as if it were cheese, and cut the traybake into squares to serve.

Liam Charles’ recipe for Spider-Man cheesecake

Spider-Man is one of my favourite superheroes. To celebrate the release of the latest film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, I’ve created the spidey slicer.

Think New York-style cheesecake in the colour scheme of Spider-Man’s cool new suit – with some marshmallow webbing thrown in for good measure.

Prep 30 min
Chill 4 hr+
Cook 55 min
Serves 14

300g Oreos
100g unsalted butter, melted

For the filling
900g full-fat cream cheese
200g golden caster sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
100ml soured cream
100ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
50ml red food colouring
4 large eggs

For the webbing
100g white marshmallows

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a 20cm x 30cm rectangular tin with baking paper. Smash up the biscuits using a food processor or by double bagging sandwich bags and crushing the biscuits with a rolling pin.

In a bowl, mix the melted butter with the biscuits, press into the base of the tin and bake for 12 minutes. Set aside while you crack on with the filling; drop the oven temperature to 150C (130C fan)/300F/gas 2.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and caster sugar with an electric or stand mixer until smooth. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a separate bowl, add the cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract and red food colouring, then stir until smooth.

Add the red mixture to the cream cheese and mix on a low speed, adding the eggs one by one. Pour the filling over the biscuit base and bake for 40 minutes – the cheesecake should have a wobble in the middle when it’s ready.

Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in there to cool for one hour. Pull the door ajar and leave for a further hour, then remove from the oven and leave to reach room temperature. Transfer to the fridge to chill for at least two hours.

Melt the marshmallows in a heatproof bowl in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring occasionally. Take the cheesecake out of the fridge and carefully remove it from the tray.

When the marshmallow has cooled, it’s time to create the webbing. Put two fingers together, dip them in the cooled, melted marshmallow, remove them from the bowl, stretch them apart and wrap the “webbing” around the cheesecake. Slice into squares and serve.

Thomasina Miers’ recipe for pork chops with garlic roast turnips

It was the chef Rowley Leigh who alerted me to how good turnips are, with their sweet and delicate flavour. Here, they are complemented by the season’s young garlic, which makes a wonderful partner for pork chops.

Pork chops with roast turnips, summer garlic and caramelised lemon

Prep 20 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4

Pair the turnips with garlic, lemon and olive oil-braised chickpeas for a vegetarian alternative.

4 pork chops
8 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1.5cm wedges
2 heads fresh, young garlic, halved horizontally, plus 1 clove, peeled
1 lemon, cut into eight wedges
2 red onions, peeled and cut into rounds
100ml extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 bay leaves, divided
A few sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
1 small handful thyme, leaves picked

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/ gas 6, and take the chops out of the fridge to come up to room temperature.

Put the turnips, halved garlic heads, lemon wedges and onion in a baking tray, and toss with five tablespoons of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Scatter over half the herbs, then put in the oven for 30-35 minutes, shaking the tray occasionally.

Meanwhile, prepare the chops. Put the garlic clove and remaining herbs in a mortar with several generous pinches of salt, and bash with a pestle until you have crushed everything into a paste. Stir in the rest of the oil, then scoop out and rub all over the chops.

Once the turnips have been in the oven for 10 minutes, put the chops on a baking tray and roast on the shelf above the turnips for 20 minutes, until golden. Remove the chops from the oven, cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

The turnips should now be golden, caramelised and cooked through, and the garlic soft. Remove from the oven, and serve alongside the chops, giving each plate half a head of garlic and a few slices of caramelised lemon and some onion. This is delicious served with garlic- and lemon-braised greens.
And for the rest of the week

Try roast turnips in a warm salad with baby gem lettuce and knobs of blue cheese scattered over for a delicious light lunch; or, gently sweat the turnips with garlic and onion in a pan with the same herbs, then whizz with vegetable stock for a wonderful summer soup, served with blue-cheese toasts.

Banana tarts recipe

The thinnest of tarts. It is worth rolling the pastry as finely as you can. Try placing the pastry on the baking sheet before adding the bananas. It makes life much easier than transferring them fully laden.

Makes 4

butter 40g
puff pastry 125g
bananas 2
icing sugar 2 tbsp
maple syrup 4 tbsp

For the cardamom cream:
green cardamom pods 10
double cream 250ml
icing sugar 1 tbsp
vanilla extract

Set the oven at 220C/gas mark 8. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up.

Melt the butter in a small pan, remove from the heat and set aside. Roll out the pastry very thinly, then cut out 4 discs about 12cm in diameter. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Peel the bananas and slice thinly, then place in a single, slightly overlapping layer on each disc. Brush the bananas and the rims of the pastry with the butter then dust generously with the icing sugar.

Place the baking sheet on the heated sheet in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven then trickle the maple syrup over the bananas and return to the oven for 5 minutes until the pastry is deep golden brown and the fruit is sticky and glistening.

Meanwhile, make the cream. Crack open the cardamom pods and extract the dark seeds, then crush to a powder using a spice mill or pestle and mortar. You need 2 tsp of the ground spice. Pour the cream into a cold mixing bowl and add the icing sugar, ground cardamom and a couple of drops of vanilla extract. Beat till thick, stopping once the cream will hold its shape on the whisk.

Peter Gunn's berry, praline and coconut yoghurt dessert recipe

It may be the picture of simplicity but with a few delicate additions, Peter Gunn, the chef and owner of Melbourne’s Ides restaurant, gives this dessert the fine-dining treatment.

Fresh and dried berries with coconut yoghurt, strawberry syrup and anise praline

50g blueberries, randomly cut
50g blackberries, randomly cut
25g strawberries, randomly cut
10g dried blueberries
200g coconut yoghurt
Macadamia oil
Chrysanthemums
Mint flowers
Sea salt

Praline
1 cup caster sugar
¼ cup water
2g star anise (or store-bought star anise powder)

Place the star anise into a pan and toast until fragrant.

Using a spice grinder, grind to a powder. This could be substituted for store-bought anise powder, toasted in a pan until fragrant.

Place 1 cup of caster sugar in a clean, heavy-based pan.

Add ¼ cup of water and set over medium heat. Resist the urge to stir and instead swirl and gently shake the pan back and forth to distribute the liquid and make sure the sugar melts evenly. Stirring the sugar causes recrystallisation and clumps to form, which is not desirable.

Once the sugar has melted into caramel and browned slightly, add the anise powder and remove from heat.

Immediately pour on to a tray lined with baking paper and leave to set as a hard sheet.

Once hard, crush down with a grinder or mortar and pestle until crumbly

Strawberry syrup
25g strawberries
1 tbsp caster sugar

In a bowl, mix together the cut strawberries with caster sugar. Allow to macerate for around 30 minutes.

Once macerated, use the back of a spoon or your hands to further break down the strawberries to a pulp.

Pass the pulp through a muslin cloth into another bowl; the result will be a vibrant strawberry syrup.

To serve

Whisk the yoghurt and sugar together.

Pick chrysanthemums and mint flowers.

Spoon yoghurt into bottom of a bowl and cover liberally with fresh berry mixture, sprinkle with dried blueberries and flowers. Dress with macadamia oil and strawberry coulis. Finally, crumble over the praline and finish with a light sprinkle of sea salt.

Simon Hopkinson’s chicken, garlic and parsley broth

A visit to my local farmer’s market in west London is my favourite start to the weekend. For what seems like an endless season, the vegetable stall offers huge heads of fresh garlic: pale green with long stems and a strong aroma. The French girl, who forever charms, also sells parsley, both curly (rare these days) and flat-leaf, as well as other noteworthy vegetables and fruit. Four heads of garlic and a huge parsley bunch cost me £4. I then take two steps to the adjacent chicken and egg purveyor, pick up three or four chicken carcasses and some giblets, and spend even less. A broth of these simple ingredients is already simmering in my happy head.

Enough for several servings
chicken carcasses 3-4 (or 8 wings), roughly chopped (if you have some giblets, add these, too)
garlic 2 heads of fresh or purple-skinned Provence, cut in half horizontally
parsley 1 large bunch, leaves picked, stalks roughly chopped
salt 2 tsp
bay leaves 2
lemon zest 3-4 strips
chilli flakes ½ tsp
white wine 2 glasses
water 2 litres, or enough to cover the ingredients by about 5cm
olive oil 3 tbsp

Put the carcasses (or wings) in a large pot that has a lid and add the garlic, parsley stalks, salt, bay leaves, lemon zest, chilli flakes, white wine and water. Bring up to a simmer and skim off any scum from the surface. Allow to blip and murmur over a very low heat, covered, for about an hour and a half; you can also do this in a low oven. After about 40 minutes of cooking, carefully lift out the garlic on to a plate using a slotted spoon, and cool. Continue to simmer the broth for the remaining time.

Remove the lid and strain the broth using a colander into a large bowl, discarding the solids. Allow the broth to settle for about 10 minutes, then remove any surface fat using 3-4 sheets of kitchen paper. Now strain the broth again through a fine sieve back into the (wiped clean) original pan.

Take the cooled heads of garlic and ease out the soft cloves from their sodden skins. Tip these into a small food processor, add the olive oil, parsley leaves and a spoonful or two of the broth. Process until smooth. Return to the broth, stir and reheat without boiling, then decant into a warmed soup bowl.

Serve with some large baked sourdough croutons, which will soften and swell in the broth while retaining a pleasing texture until the final spoonful. This recipe makes more than one serving; there isn’t much point in making a smaller quantity. But I can live on this for days – it keeps well in the fridge for at least five days.

Roast chicken yorkshires recipe

A batter pudding laden with chicken, sprouts and gravy. I probably don’t need to remind you how hot the fat needs to be before you pour the batter in, literally smoking, but I will. The fearsome heat is necessary to encourage a decent rise to your puddings.

Makes 6 (enough for 3 people)
For the batter
plain flour 110g
eggs 2
milk 150ml
sparkling water 150ml
dripping or lard 30g

For the filling
groundnut oil or dripping 4 tbsp
banana shallots 10 small
chicken thighs 6
plain flour 2 heaped tbsp
chicken stock 1 litre
thyme 10 sprigs, leaves removed
brussels sprouts 100g
olive oil or butter a little

You will need a six-hole yorkshire pudding tin or similar.

To make the batter, put the plain flour in a mixing bowl or large jug. Beat the eggs and stir into the flour with the milk and sparkling water and a half teaspoon of salt, then set aside. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.

For the filling, warm the oil or dripping in a roasting tin. Peel the shallots and cut them in half lengthways. Place them cut side down in the warm oil, then place the chicken thighs in the tin and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for about 45 minutes till golden and the skin is lightly crisp.

Remove the chicken and shallots from the oven. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and reserve the skin. Turn the oven up to 230C/gas mark 8. Tear the chicken meat into pieces and keep to one side.

Put the roasting tin on the hob over a moderate heat and stir in the flour, letting it cook for a minute or two. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, stirring regularly and scraping at the bottom of the pan to dissolve any tasty bits into the gravy. Lower the heat and simmer to a thickish consistency (too thin and it will pour out of your puddings). Generously season to taste and remove from the heat. Add the chicken meat to the gravy together with the thyme leaves and keep warm.

Cut each sprout in half. Warm a little oil in a shallow pan then add the sprouts and the pieces of chicken skin. Let the sprouts colour lightly and the skin crisp. Remove from the heat and stir the sprouts into the gravy. Place the crisp skin on kitchen paper.

Divide the dripping between six large yorkshire pudding tins, place in the oven for 5-10 minutes till smoking. Ladle or pour the batter into the hot fat, letting it come almost to the rim of the tins. Return to the oven immediately and bake for 8-10 minutes till puffed up. Remove from the oven and fill with some of the chicken and sprout gravy. Shatter the crisped chicken skin over the top of each pudding and serve.

Alice Staple’s recipe for risotto ai funghi porcini

Having travelled and cooked my way around Italy over the past 20 years, I’ve come to realise that autumn and winter are my favourite times of year. The local markets are full of incredible produce and in Italy you can only really get seasonal ingredients whereas in the UK everything is available at all times of year. I would encourage anyone to eat as seasonally as possible as the seasonality elevates the quality, taste and freshness. Fresh porcini are no exception. They are not as easy to source in the UK but the dried variety are a great substitute and the water used to rehydrate them makes a delicious stock. I love this recipe because it is a real crowd pleaser and easily adaptable for vegans. Cooked correctly, risotto is one of the most delicious, satisfying and economical dishes for a quick midweek dinner, or even a dinner party for friends.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: 2

25g dried porcini mushrooms
150g chestnut or field mushrooms, roughly chopped
150g oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
4 tbsp olive oil
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
200g arborio rice
250ml white wine
1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
Small bunch of parsley, leaves only and finely chopped
100g butter
100g grated parmesan cheese
Truffle oil (optional)

Soak the mushrooms in boiling water for 15-20 minutes. You need just enough water to cover the mushrooms.

Roughly chop the chestnut and oyster mushrooms so they are 1-2cm cubed, or however chunky you prefer them. Fry in 1 tbsp olive oil and a knob of butter until golden brown. Set to one side until you’re ready to add them to the risotto.

Fry the finely chopped onion in 3 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes on a medium heat until soft but not browned. Add the garlic and fry for another minute.

Add the rice and mix until nicely coated with the oil, onions and garlic. Add the wine, turn the heat up and stir continuously. Cook until fully absorbed and turn the heat back down to medium. Add the porcini water and stir again until fully absorbed.

Add enough stock to just cover the rice, stir and repeat the process for about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and cook with the rice for5 minutes - it should have absorbed the majority of the liquid but not be completely dry. You have the option to add a bit more stock – the most important thing is that the rice still has a bit of a bite but isn’t too crunchy.

Add a knob of butter, 75g of Parmesan, and the parsley. Stir together and check the consistency. It should be wet but not sitting in liquid. Allow it to sit for a minute or two before serving.

Serve in shallow bowls or plates.For those who like it extra cheesy, sprinkle the remainder of the Parmesan on top. For something extra special drizzle over some truffle oil.

Vegans can easily substitute the butter for oil (although there is no need to add extra oil at the end of the recipe) and you can leave the cheese out too.

Alice Staple is an executive chef, who is currently setting up her debut restaurant, Maremma, in Brixton, south London, alongside Dickie, a Brixton resident who runs the London Cooking Project.