Snow Day means comfort food

I'll admit that I am playing rather fast and loose with the term snow day here. While the majority of the UK has been wrapped in a soft blanket of the cold white fluffy stuff, here on the Costa del Kent we seem to have missed the worst of it and have got a light dusting. It has still been enough to cancel my plans to meet some old school friends for lunch in London though as our transport system seems to shut down the second the first snowflake hits the train tracks. Grrr.

This is big jumper dress, thick tights and a big bowl of steaming pasta weather.

This pasta dish is so quick and easy and is one of my go-to meals when I need something fast and warm. I've cooked it so many times and is never comes out the same but it is always lovely. As long as I have some dried pasta and a tin of tomatoes in the house I can whip this up.

Today's version included fresh basil, pancetta, oregano and mozzarella; anything I had in the fridge that needed using up. You can do it with bacon lardons and dried basil but just cook for a bit longer and drain off the excess liquid. Go easy on extra salt as well, you get a lot from the pancetta. I also smother in Tabasco, but that is a matter of taste.

How can you resist?