I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions, but one thing I had pondered was the vital importance of eating and drinking more than I did last year. With this remarkable gem of inspiration in mind, I grabbed a menu in La Brocca (whilst enjoying a Malbec), and settled in by the open fire… well, a piping hot radiator at least.

I’d been meaning to try the baked spinach and ricotta cannelloni, with tomato and béchamel sauce, and it proved a satisfying winter-warming dish, as I’d hoped. Served in a pleasing terracotta bowl as with the baked gnocchi I often enjoy, it again reminded me of some basic rules of good cooking; make simple, appetising dishes, and do them well, in decent-sized portions, for hungry people. Success! Rich, melting, tomatoey and well-seasoned.

Accompanying the cannelloni were old favourites of sun-dried tomato pesto and avocado bruschetta (always excellent), with a mixed salad which also included ripe avo. The world needs more avocado!

After all that lot, and a litre or so of the Malbec, I spent the following day making soups with my new Nutribullet blender (off I go again – I haven’t shut up about it since I bought it 3 weeks ago). The results? Certainly healthy, but taste-wise, not up to La Brocca or Wet Fish Café standards just yet, let’s put it that way…

Happy New Year, gluttons!