A good Christmas Eve supper after the food shopping in the morning.

It is a nonsense call something it is not (carbonara should really be eggs, cream eggs and ham) but there are similarities here particularly if you have previously made your spagetti carbonara with smocked bacon. This is a smooth, fulfilling dish – a good way to start an indulgent weekend. It will go well with most types of pasta but I think it works well with thick strips of tagliatelle, the creamy sauce and flakes of haddock clinging to the strips of pasta.

1 glass of white wine

500 gr un-dyed smoked haddock

500 gr thick-ribboned tagliatelle

350 ml crème fraiche

juice of half a lemon

finely chopped dill or parsley

salt & pepper

Put on water to boil in a large pan.

Warm the wine in the bottom of a wide pan until it starts to simmer. Put in the fillets of smoked haddock skin side down and poach until the skin can be pulled away from the flesh.  Take the fish out of the pan and leave to cool for a few minutes. Then, using your fingers, pull away the skin and discard. Break up the flakes of flesh, but not too small. Lick your fingers.

As the water for pasta comes to the boil add the crème fraiche and lemon juice to the pan the haddock cooked in and start to warm through.

Cook the pasta. It will probably take about 10 minutes, but check the instructions, and taste until it is ready.

In the meantime put the  fish back in their pan and stir gently into the creamy sauce. Check for salt and pepper and add half of the chopped dill.

When the pasta is done, drain and pour back into its pan. Stir into it half of the cream and smoked haddock sauce and then pour into a warmed serving dish. Pour over the rest of the sauce and sprinkle over the rest of the dill or parsley. Serve with Low in the background doing their Christmas album. Possibly the best Christmas record of them all. Happy Christmas..