Sometimes, all we need is soup. It’s not a cure-all, but sometimes it's just right. A pot of soup feeds a family; it warms and nourishes, and fills our kitchen with delicious aromas. It’s also an efficient meal, using up vegetables and leftovers and relying on pantry staples. It’s homey and undemanding, yet with a few key ingredients, a simple pot of soup can magically transform into a satisfying and delicious one-pot meal.

Minestrone is a classic Italian vegetable soup, brimming with diced vegetables swirling in a tomato-infused stock. It’s rustic, filling and layered with flavor. The stock can be vegetable or chicken, to which tomatoes are added -- not to dominate, but just enough to infuse the stock with brightness and complexity. Carrots and onions form the base for the vegetables, often with celery or fennel added to the aromatic mix.

From that point, other vegetables can be added to your liking. Chopped leafy greens, diced root vegetables and zucchini are all great contenders. In addition to vegetables, pasta and/or beans are frequently included in minestrone, providing satisfying substance, and when the two ingredients are combined, they create are an economical source of protein.

A key final ingredient pulls this soup together: a hunk of cheese rind, either Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. Cheese rind is a wonderful secret ingredient to a tomato-and-vegetable soup (and a terrific way to use up any cheese remnants). As the rind simmers in the stock, it will break down, imparting a kick of salt and an umami depth of flavor, while adding body to the soup.

Finally, when prepping the soup, try to uniformly chop and dice the vegetables. Not only is it visually appealing, but it somehow makes the soup taste even better -- perhaps because it's easier to get a little bite of everything in each spoonful.

Italian Minestrone

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, fronds removed, diced

1 medium yellow potato, peeled, diced

1 small zucchini, seeded and diced

4 to 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 (15-ounce) can chopped plum tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (2-inch) chunk Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese rind

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini or northern beans, drained

1 heaping cup coarsely chopped greens, such as Swiss chard, kale or spinach leaves

Fresh Italian parsley leaves for garnish

Finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese for serving

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the carrots and fennel and continue to saute until the vegetables brighten in color and are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the potato and zucchini and briefly saute, about 1 minute. Add the 4 cups stock, the tomatoes, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, salt and black pepper. If the soup is too chunky, add more stock to your desired consistency.

Bring the soup to a simmer and submerge the cheese rind in it. Partially cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the beans and greens and simmer until the greens wilt, about 2 minutes more.

Ladle the soup into warm bowls. Garnish with parsley and serve with the grated cheese for sprinkling.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

If it's possible to express sentiment over a sausage, then the merguez would be considered my first true love. I had my first taste of this North African sausage when I lived in Paris. It was unlike any I ever tasted. Finger-thin and fiery red-hot, these lamb sausages were taut, feisty and not to be underestimated. They were abundant in the myriad couscous restaurants sprinkled throughout the city, from street vendors, and sold in specialty markets. Eaten alone, with couscous, or in a bun with frites and sauce, merguez were fragrant with cumin, coriander and fennel, dry and hot like the desert heat, and fiery red with harissa. One bite, and you were transported.

Since then, and following moves farther north in Europe and to the U.S., the Parisian merguez became a wistful food memory, reminisced over at the dinner table and used as a point of comparison when encountering other sausages. Nothing seemed to match the memory; so, to that end, I began tinkering with making my own bulk sausage meat.

Bulk sausage is easy to make, since it’s simply spiced ground meat, and it was key to first nail the flavor before attempting to actually stuff the meat into casing. It’s also crazy simple to do -- so much that I frequently return to the ground meat method and mix it into stews and sauces or form it into patties.

These patties are easy to eat, grilled or pan-fried, stuffed in pita, piled on couscous, and drizzled with a garlicky yogurt sauce. To be honest, at this point I can’t say if they precisely replicate my first love, but they sure do hit the spot.

Merguez Bulk Sausage

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes, plus chilling time

Yield: Makes 1 1/2 pounds

1 teaspoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon coriander seed

1 teaspoon cumin seed

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons harissa paste

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 pound ground lamb

Olive oil

Yogurt Sauce:

1 cup Greek whole milk yogurt

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Toast the fennel, coriander and cumin seeds in a small pan over medium heat until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a mortar with pestle or spice grinder and finely grind.

Transfer the spices to a large bowl. Add the garlic, harissa, salt, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne and mix to form a paste. Add the lamb and, using your hands, mix to thoroughly combine without overmixing.

Test the flavor of the meat by pan-frying a spoonful in a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. The meat should have a robust flavor, full of spice and heat, and not shy of salt. When the flavor is to your liking, form the meat into 1 1/2-inch patties and place on a plate. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. In batches, pan-fry the patties, without overcrowding the skillet, until brown on both sides and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.

Whisk the yogurt sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Serve the patties warm with the yogurt sauce, pita bread, harissa sauce and fresh mint leaves.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS

The cooler season begs for layers -- and not just when it comes to clothing. Behold the lasagna. This hefty casserole is layered with three cheeses, a meaty tomato sauce and -- wait for it -- kale.

Now, before you roll your eyes, realize this: This lasagna can handle a little kale. In fact, it will put the hearty greens in their place, allowing them to shine without overtaking this admittedly nonvegetarian recipe with excessive leafiness. It will invite a layer of freshness into an otherwise robust, gooey and loaded lasagna. And if you are trying to sneak a few vegetables into someone's diet, this may do the trick.

With that preface, let me add that this recipe can easily be made vegetarian by simply omitting the meat from the tomato sauce. The choice is yours, and both versions are delicious. I've provided a meat sauce in the recipe, but you can skip it if you prefer. And if you have a favorite prepared sauce that you swear by, then by all means, make your life a little easier and use it.

Now, back to the layers. Stack your lasagna as high as your dish will allow (let's hope it's at least 2 1/2 inches deep). And do include kale leaves in the mix. They will soften and melt into the lasagna, tempered by the rich cheese and bright sauce, while providing color and, of course, extra nutrients. You might even have room for seconds.

Lasagna

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Yield: Makes one 9-inch-square lasagna. For a larger rectangular lasagna (pictured), double the ingredients.

Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 pound ground beef

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian plum tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Ricotta:

16 ounces whole-milk ricotta

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons half-and-half

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 box lasagna sheets

One bunch Tuscan (Lacinato) kale leaves, ribs removed, torn into large pieces

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, shredded

1 cup finely grated Parmesan and/or Pecorino Romano cheese

Make the sauce: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the beef (if using) and cook until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring as needed. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Whisk the ricotta ingredients in a bowl until smooth.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spoon a thin layer of sauce in bottom of a baking dish. Place a layer of lasagna sheets over the sauce, breaking them to fit to size as necessary. Smear some of the ricotta over the lasagna sheets. Arrange some of the kale leaves over the ricotta and drizzle some of the sauce over the kale. Scatter some mozzarella over the kale and sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat the layering process, gently pressing down on the layers as you stack the lasagna. (You may not use up all of lasagna sheets.)

Cover the dish with foil, transfer to the oven, and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until the lasagna sheets are tender when pierced with a knife, the cheese is bubbling and the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS