I have had another long day, another long week, and the fridge is almost empty bar a little bit of lonely, neglected veg. It is not the first time I find myself in the kitchen, conscious of the ticking clock as my offspring begin to circle like hungry vultures. I know I only have a small window of time to decide what to cook before things start to kick off so I grab some bread to eat and think. I open the cupboard and have a lightbulb moment when I spot the pasta staring back at me.

Pasta is always the answer when I am tired and have no energy or time to cook but it is also what my children would always vote to eat. My family, alone, must be partly responsible for an increase in consumption of wholewheat penne, fusilli and spaghetti in the UK, as they will try to eat it at every opportunity. It is our ultimate comfort food but it is also ingrained in our family as part of an established pre-sport preparation. So when I am reminded about the details of yet another upcoming race, competition or match, I am routinely told: ‘So we need to have some pasta the night before…’. Of course, pasta often plays a part in the perfect recovery meal, as well, but my children would argue that pasta is necessary at all times and it is undoubtedly the answer to ‘What shall we cook?’

By now, we must have made hundreds of different types of pasta dishes but some of the best have been born out of the creative use of limited ingredients at the end of the week. Here is our latest creation: Spaghetti with broccoli and lemon. You can find it in the Pasta pronto! section.