Chard pasta

It's that time of year when food goes over the top. Would you like some brandy butter in your mince pie? Whipped cream on your boozy hot chocolate? A bit of home made shortbread? How about a bacon-wrapped chipolata with your roast turkey and some extra gravy with your mashed potatoes? It'd be rude not to. But somehow the onslaught of festive food seems to drag out through the whole month. It reaches a point where you don't really want another cranberry-topped anything and just want something simple and, well, clean-tasting.

This very straight-forward pasta is just the thing. It's one of those sauces that comes together in the time it takes to boil the pasta, so you can be ready to eat in less than 15 minutes. I added some anchovies to give a salty kick, but if you leave them out and add capers or some sliced olives, you've got yourself a good vegan meal.

Spaghetti with chard and anchovies (serves 2)

Olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

1 large, medium-heat red chilli

4 anchovy fillets (optional)

1 bunch chard

juice of a lemon

pasta, to serve

Warm a good slurp of olive oil in a large sauté pan, add the sliced garlic, chilli and anchovy fillets, and cook gently until the anchovy begins to melt.

Chop the stalks of the chard and add to the pan. When they have sweated down a bit, (which should be about the same time as the pasta is ready) add the shredded leaves of the chard, the juice of a lemon and the drained pasta. As you toss it together, the heat from the pasta will wilt the chard down. Serve in big bowls with lots of black pepper.