Last night was our office Christmas party.
I used to be a real party girl. I was always the last person to leave a nightclub or the one that suggested going on somewhere else. The one who would roll home at four in the morning, grab three hours sleep and stumble into work the next day in a haze of stale alcohol. I place the blame for this behaviour entirely on my mother who once told me that you should never leave a party early because you might miss something. Mind you, she also told me that the most fun people at any party are the smokers.
Today, however, I am the one who is feeling smug because not only did I only have two glasses of wine last night but I was safely tucked up in bed before the early hours and managed a respectable seven hours sleep (although that may have had more to do with the fact that I mistakenly set my alarm for an hour later than I meant to).
I don't know where along the line I grew up. It does, of course, have something to do with the fact that I'm only allowed to drink in scant moderation at the moment but I've also come to appreciate a night out more when I don't feel the pressure to stay until the last song or be the life and soul of the party. I'd rather have three hours of top quality fun than six hours of mediocre partying.
Thankfully my boyfriend seems to be of a similar persuasion so whilst the early days of our courtship were marked by nights out in terrible clubs and a notable incident of purple vomit after a night of snakebites (him, not me), nowadays we struggle to get through a bottle of wine at dinner.
There is nothing, however, like free-flowing booze and the sight of your boss dancing to Mariah Carey to get you in the Christmas spirit.
When it comes to Christmas, there are certain traditions that I insist we abide by. We have to listen to the carol concert from King's College, Cambridge and sin along loudly and out of tune. We have to leave a glass of sherry and a mince pie out for Father Christmas. We have to open our presents in the certain order (I like to go last so that it seems like I have the most presents).
We also have to have our traditional Christmas Eve meal of pasta with a spicy sausage sauce. This tradition developed for no particular reason other than the fact that it is a family favourite and Christmas Eve is probably the only night of the year when all four of us (I have a younger brother, I'm not sure he's ever come up in conversation before) are under the same roof. Alongside, we usually have a heaping of rocket with a simple dressing of lemon and olive oil. We love this pasta at other times of the year too but it's spicy richness works particularly well as a prelude to the big day. It is worth trying to find nice spicy Italian sausages but any will do really as you can always add whatever spices take your fancy. I like a mix of paprika and chilli personally as I love the smoky spiciness that they bring but it is completely a matter of personal taste.
(Please note, you do not have to serve it with such odd looking parmesan. This was what Mr Supermarket delivered to me rather than a block of parmesan. It tastes fine but looks bizarre.)
My mother has just rung to check the arrangements for next week. She asked whether I wanted still wanted this pasta on Christmas Eve. The silence from my end said more than words ever could.
~
Pasta with sausage sauce
Yield: Serves four
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- 2 carrots, chopped finely
- 2 sticks of celery, chopped finely
- 6 Italian sausages (to avoid any confusion, I mean the raw breakfast type sausage, nothing cooked!)
- 1/2 teaspoon hot chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 glass red wine
- Large jar of passata (mine was 700g)
- Pasta for four people
- In a large pan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook until soft and translucent.
- Remove the sausages from their casing and add to the pan with the chilli and paprika. Cook until brown.
- Turn the heat up and throw in a glass of red wine. When the alcohol has burned off, add the passata. Turn down the heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
- Cook the pasta to your preference, slop a bit of sauce on the top and garnish with parmesan if desired.