WanderSups’ Hannah Gregory, from Suffolk, on keeping it simple this festive season

At this time of year everything has a tendency to go a bit bonkers, does it not? Days are shorter, which suddenly feels like as soon as you’ve had lunch, it’s nearly dinner time. Once you are home from a day of work and have derobed the winter coats and hats and gloves, the last thing you want to do is slave over a long, arduous meal. And then, as the big C word gets closer, time is occupied with shopping, decorating, diplomatically fielding conversations about where you will be for Christmas and which family members you will endure.

In short, simplicity is key, comfort is essential and time is of the essence, but flavour should never be compromised because at this time of year, we all need to be slapped round the face with a big hit of deliciousness.

This dish delivers all of the above in spades, it can be whipped up in a mere 15 minutes and offers the same levels of comfort as that famous orange soup we all know and love. Yes, technically we are not in prime tomato season - so sue me. Sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants and for me, that is cheesy, spicy, tomato pasta. Preferably with a bottle of something red and a comforting movie.

SUPER SIMPLE SPICY TOMATO AND GOAT’S CHEESE PASTA

Serves 2

What you need:

250g fresh tagliatelle (any pasta will do to be fair and dried is perfectly acceptable)

1 shallot

2 cloves of garlic

Knob of unsalted butter

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1 punnet of yellow or orange cherry tomatoes

150g Chavroux goats cheese

50g parmesan grated

Bunch of basil

Oil for frying

Salt and peps

How you do it:

l 1. Heat a good amount of oil in a frying pan, remove the basil leaves from the stalks, keep the stalks to one side. If the basil stalks aren’t already tied, bunch them together with some string to make it easier to fish them out later. When the oil is hot, fry the leaves for a minute until crispy, remove from the oil and leave to drain on kitchen towel.

l 2. Peel and finely dice the shallot and garlic.

l 3. Heat a knob of unsalted butter in a pan until foaming.

l 4. Fry the shallot, garlic and chili flakes over a medium heat until sweated, soft and fragrant.

l 5. Add the basil stalks to the cooked shallots and garlic.

l 6. Throw the tomatoes into the cooked shallots and garlic and leave to cook until they start to collapse on themselves. This should take around ten minutes. If the tomatoes come on the vine, chuck this in as well for extra flavour.

l 7. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

l 8. Remove the basil stalks (and tomato vines if using) from the pan, then add a ladle of pasta water to the tomatoes, use an immersion blender to blitz until a sauce is achieved.

l 9. Stir in the grated parmesan cheese and half of the goat’s cheese and season well with black pepper and salt, baring in mind the cheese is already quite salty, as the cheese melts the sauce should become thick and glossy and unctuous.

l 10. When the pasta is cooked, using tongs to add it to the sauce (this is always my preferred method rather than draining it first as it brings some pasta water with it which creates the glossy sauce).

l 11. Stir vigorously until the pasta is coated.

l 12. Pour on to a plate and top with dollops of the remaining goat’s cheese and crispy basil leaves.

Find out about Hannah’s upcoming Supper Clubs and what she is currently cooking at www.wandersups.com

Or via Instagram@Wandersups