I’m not sure how it happened, but Christmas is almost upon us. I’m usually the least likely Scrooge, but it is proving a little difficult to muster festive spirit amid all the uncertainty and mixed feeling among friends and family. By this point in any normal year, our diets would be made up predominantly of cocktail sausages and mini mince pies. Maybe some of that is still happening; maybe you’re battening down the hatches. Whatever the next few days hold for you, you’re going to need something good for dinner tonight.  

It needs to be something that feels indulgent and festive but also reassuringly comforting; something that is going to fill your kitchen with the familiar scent of a favourite dinner coming together, a meal that is worth setting the table nicely for, but that you could also eat on your lap on the sofa watching a Christmas film. Look no further.

A traditional lasagne is one of my very favourite things to make, but it does take a little while to pull together. This version, with a ricotta and Parmesan mixture in lieu of bechamel, and a spicy, sausagey sauce rather than a slow-cooked ragu, is a kind of quick, super flavoursome version of the classic. I prefer to cook the sauce in a shallow casserole pan and then use that same pan to layer the lasagne, leaving a few corners poking out of the top for added texture. Serve this with a nice salad dressed in plenty of lemon and olive oil.