Cooking with Mrs Conetta: Comfort food is classic way to beat a Glasgow January

This year, my granddaughter Cristina and I cooked Christmas dinner together. (Well, it was mostly her.)

She had been working at the Ritz and wanted to cook a superb meal for the family.

She certainly did that - there was a beautiful chestnut soup as a starter and then an Italian buffet of parma ham, salami, prosciutto and prawn cocktail with grapes.

Cristina also made an Italian porchetta - a suckling pig fed on chestnuts and acorns which has become a familiar sight at open-air markets and local fiestas in Italy.

Slices of roast piglet stuffed with aromatic mountain herbs and garlic, accompanied by a slice of country bread, are sold to passers-by from roadside stalls. This indeed was a change from our usual turkey.

Cristina has cooked since she was four years old, when she brought home-made pancakes and tea into the bedroom one mornng and I nearly fainted, thinking ‘how did she manage to do this?!’ Since then, one of her greatest pleasures is to feed people.

We had a lovely festive season, hope you all did too. Hogmanay always brings back a lot of memories for me.

It was a happy, happy time.

One year we decided to go to Italy with friends we had met in Spain. She was a make-up artist and he did the lighting on films such as Mamma Mia.

Off we went to Puglia, and we were invited on Hogmanay to a party in the hotel.

It was so funny – they were so prim and proper, all these Italian Nonnas were so taken aback at us singing Auld Lang Syne and having a proper song and dance party. There were a few disapproving looks. The other Italians thought it was great fun and so it was.

But now it is time to adjust back to normal life. The other day I had egg, chips and beans for dinner which was absolutely delicious.

They must be real chips though - so good, especially with a battered haddock and a pickle. Along with pies, a good macaroni cheese, a carbonara or mince, potatoes and doughballs, they’re up there with the best comfort food around.

These are the kinds of dishes which bring memories of childhood - food that’s pleasurable, reassuring and filling. Much needed during a Scottish January…

With Burns Night approaching, it is also a chance to enjoy some haggis. Some view it with humour and horror, to me it’s a flavourful, comforting dish steeped in tradition.

And it uses parts of the animal which might otherwise go to waste – a return to the days when people made sure nothing that could be eaten went into the bin.

As Burns would say: “But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer, Gie her a Haggis!”

It takes a lot to beat good comfort food. One of my favourites is this week’s recipe, a delicious meatloaf.

Make sure you finish with a home-made rice pudding for dessert. Buon appetito.

MRS CONETTA'S MEATLOAF

INGREDIENTS

1kg ground beef

Half a large onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

100g ground fat from prosciutto or blanched salt pork

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

5 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan

Juice of 1 lemon

Third of a cup of double cream

5 tablespoons of unseasoned breadcrumbs, preferably homemade – soaked in milk

3 extra large eggs

2 hard boiled extra large eggs – coarsely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Small bunch of parsley - chopped

METHOD

Put the ground beef, onion, garlic, prosciutto fat, butter, parmesan, lemon juice, double cream, breadcrumbs, parsley, the three eggs and the two hard boiled eggs coarsely chopped in a large crockery or glass bowl.

Mix all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Add salt, pepper and cinnamon and mix well again. Shape the mixture like a loaf of bread.

Transfer the mixture into a large roasting tin, put olive oil on top and refrigerate for half an hour.

Roast at 160 degrees C for an hour, and serve.