As soon as we catch the first whiff of frost, we mentally switch cooking modes from salads, stir fries, and grilled vegetables to ragouts, daubes, and rich stocks. In perfect synchrony with the falling thermometer, the North American edition of Soupology: The Art of Soup from Six Simple Broths by Drew Smith (Rizzoli, 2020, $29.99) launched last month.

Earlier in his career, Smith was a deft restaurant reviewer for The Guardian and for many years edited The Good Food Guide, an annual review of Britain’s best restaurants. This volume is more about home cooking and the tone is friendly and intimate. It’s easy to imagine looking over his shoulder as he shows how to make a delicious range of soups.

Don’t be put off by the fact that most sections begin with a recipe for a mother broth. You don’t need to use his versions, but if you do, you’ll find the book very economical. As Smith points out, to make a broth you’re already poaching a bunch of ingredients that you might as well use in a full soup. In all, there are six mother broths: vegetable, poultry, meat, fish, shellfish, and kombu (for several Asian soups).

Not every recipe depends on such homemade staples. We’re taken with his minimalist beef and tomato soup for a small kitchen. (At roughly 50 square feet, ours probably qualifies.) The recipe takes little prep space, a rudimentary oven for roasting tomatoes, and just one burner and a big pot. It’s a quick lesson in Smith’s approach. He uses no salt or pepper, which we add to taste. He derives much of the flavor by browning—and we mean serious browning—of the meat and vegetables. And he doesn’t cook off the alcohol after adding wine at the end. Personally, we like the smoother taste imparted by those extra few minutes of simmering.

SMALL KITCHEN BEEF AND TOMATO SOUP

This is a good recipe if you are short on space or time. You can substitute chicken for the beef and follow the same technique.

SERVES 2

10 1/2 ounces trimmed beef, chuck, or braising steak, with no fat
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
1 carrot
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 fat tomatoes
1 glass red wine
Parsley to serve

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Chop the meat into small cubes. In a wide frying pan, warm enough olive oil to cover the base. As it starts to smoke, add the beef pieces and shallow fry them for 4 to 5 minutes until they are well colored. Roughly chop the onion and carrot, then add to the beef and let them color for a few minutes. Take everything out of the pan and drain off any fat.

Add the butter to a pot and heat until it foams and is just turning brown. Put the beef and vegetables back in and stir well. Cover with a quart of water and let it bubble away until the liquid has almost disappeared.

Meanwhile, put your tomatoes in a roasting pan with a little olive oil or butter and roast for 15 to 20 minutes until soft.

When your beef soup is reduced by at least half, top up to a quart again and repeat the process, then let it cook down again so that it is almost gone. Finally, add the red wine. The soup should be dark and the meat should be soft.

Add in the tomatoes and garnish with parsley.