If you don’t have a recipe like this in your winter repertoire, then you should. In our house, we refer to this dish as Pasta Bolognese. Now, before you raise your hand to point out that this is not an authentic Bolognese sauce, I’ll save you the time and announce it right here: This is not an authentic Bolognese sauce.

You might, instead, call this sauce a distant relative, the result of numerous family dinners, and the evolution of a sauce tweaked to ensure ease of preparation, ingredient access and unanimous approval.

Let me explain. Bolognese sauce is a meaty Italian ragu, often containing a combination of beef, pork, pancetta and/or veal. It may also include tomatoes, although they are not typically predominant, since meat is the principal component (which is why Bolognese is often called a ragu). This recipe calls exclusively for ground beef, because that’s the meat I can easily find in my market and likely have stashed in my freezer. And it includes a generous amount of tomatoes, which always lend bright acidity to meat sauce.

Other traits of traditional Bolognese sauce are the minimal use of spices (salt, pepper, nutmeg), no garlic (gasp!), and the inclusion of white wine and milk. For the record, you can be sure there will be garlic in the following recipe, as well as oregano and thyme. And there will be no trace of milk; otherwise, at least one young family member would have rebelled years ago due to a mystifying bias against dairy. And, in place of white wine, I always add red, because I prefer how it deepens flavor and adds fruity acidity to meaty sauces -- and (for some reason) there’s always red wine in our house.

Finally, Bolognese is hearty, traditionally served with equally hearty pasta, such as pappardelle. We love these thick, ribbon-y noodles, but, unlike red wine, there’s rarely pappardelle on hand in our house for an impromptu dinner, so spaghetti is the go-to staple of choice.

The point here is that this is a flexible pasta sauce that tastes great no matter its name or origin. In our home, it’s a beloved family staple we’ve called Bolognese, and we’re sticking to it.

Pasta Bolognese

Active Time: 50 minute

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 small carrot, finely diced

1 small celery stalk, finely diced

1 pound ground beef

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup full-bodied red wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 (28-ounce) can crushed or whole Italian plum tomatoes with juice

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

Spaghetti or other pasta

Fresh parsley

Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer to a bowl.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the same pot. Add the beef and cook until colored and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by about half, stirring up any brown bits in the pan, and then add the tomato paste and stir to blend.

Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, salt and black pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Partially cover the pot and simmer the sauce for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up any of the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Taste for seasoning. If desired add 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, to taste.

Serve ladled over cooked pasta. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

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It’s that time of year again. As the holiday season winds down, the reality of winter sets in, and with that comes a bout of culinary wanderlust. Over-sated and over-stimulated with the goodies and activity of Christmas past, it’s now time for comfort and warmth.

Satisfying, fragrant soups and stews, heady with spice, tease the senses and hint of sunny far-flung destinations. You might call it escapism or a craving for carefree ease and simplicity, but I can’t think of a better way to greet January head-on.

This curry is rich, bright and bursting with flavor. It’s also easy to make and extremely versatile. You can add additional vegetables to the stew, such as carrot and cauliflower. Be sure to taste a small piece of the jalapeno before adding it to the stew, since they can vary in heat. Remember that their heat is concentrated in the membranes of the pepper, so remove or include the membranes to suit your taste. A squeeze of lime juice is essential to brightening the stew and giving it a little kick of acidity.

Best of all, this dish can be prepared in 30 minutes, which leaves you just enough time to cook some rice to serve with the stew.

Shrimp Curry

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 green jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded, finely chopped

2 tablespoons grated fresh peeled ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

1 (28-ounce) can chopped Italian plum tomatoes

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise, each quarter sliced in 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 teaspoons brown sugar (optional)

Cooked basmati rice for serving

Lime wedges for serving

Heat the oil in a deep skillet or soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeno and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the curry powder and continue to cook until fragrant, about 1 minute more.

Add the tomatoes, coconut milk and zucchini. Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and cook until they turn pink and are just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in the 1/4 cup cilantro, lime juice, salt and black pepper and taste for seasoning. If desired, add 1 to 2 teaspoons brown sugar to balance the flavor.

Ladle into bowls with cooked basmati rice. Garnish with additional cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

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Yes, that's potato gratins in the plural, not singular. Sure, you can make one big gratin, but these little gratins are very cute in their individual ramekins, and they are also elegantly and cleverly portioned. This ensures that you will be less likely to find yourself gobbling up half a baking dish of gratineed potatoes or wrestling your child for the last crunchy cheesy corner stuck to the baking dish. Just saying -- it's been known to happen.

There’s nothing more appealing and comforting than a bubbling casserole of cheesy potatoes in the winter. The ingredients are few and simple. Sour cream lends a bright tang to the cheesy richness of the gratin. Yukon gold potatoes are buttery, creamy and versatile, and hold their shape once cooked, so the gratin won’t turn to mush.

And then there’s the cheese: An authentic Gruyere cheese is the best choice for this cold-weather dish. Gruyere hails from the Swiss Alps, and if any food culture can do wintery food and cheese well, it’s the Swiss. Their alpine cheese is nutty, sweet and piquant, a byproduct of their very happy cows nibbling on the flora in the mountain meadows. Choose an aged Gruyere if you can, because it will have a little more salt and earthiness in its flavor.

A key to making these gratins is to slice the potatoes as thinly as possible. A mandolin works best for this task, but you can also carefully cut the potatoes with a knife. Keep the skins on for extra nutrients -- just be sure to give the potatoes a good scrubbing before slicing. This recipe can also be prepared in a 2-quart baking dish or gratin. Just remember to share.

Potato Gratins

Active Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Makes 8 servings

Unsalted butter

16 ounces full-fat sour cream

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 pounds small to medium Yukon gold potatoes, washed, very thinly sliced, about 1/8-inch thick

8 ounces grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 8 (3/4-cup) ramekins.

Whisk the sour cream, garlic, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper together in a bowl.

Arrange two layers of potatoes, slightly overlapping, in the ramekins. Spread a layer of sour cream over the potatoes to cover, and then top with a sprinkling of cheese. Repeat the layering process, occasionally sprinkling with a pinch of salt and pepper, until the ramekins are full, gently pressing down on each layer. Finish with a layer of sour cream and grated cheese.

Arrange the ramekins on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, and the tops are brown and bubbling, about 50 minutes to 1 hour. (If the tops brown before the potatoes are fully cooked, lightly cover with foil to prevent burning.)

Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve warm.

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