Soup

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Japanese connoisseurs of the noodle hold soba, made primarily of buckwheat flour, in particularly high regard. Here the nutty taste of the soba noodles is set off by a restorative broth in which miso is a savory option. Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Teri Carpenter of Albuquerque, New Mexico, writes: "On a trip to British Columbia, we dined at Blue Heron Inn, on Porpoise Bay, in Sechelt. They served a fabulous onion and fennel bisque. Could you get the chef to share the recipe with Gourmet?" This bisque is so lush that demitasse cups make an ideal serving size. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 1 hr

For more information about forming tortellini, see Wrapped Around Your Little Finger. Active time: 3 hr Start to finish: 3 1/2 hr

A version of posole, a Mexican classic.

The duck leg confit brings added richness to the bisque, but the soup is also delicious without it.

Straciatella are little rags or strings, which is what the eggs look like when they are cooked. It is these gentle shreds that make this soup so comforting. The essentials of this soup are the stock, or brodo, the eggs, and the cheese. The spinach or other greens are variants. Cooked peas can be used instead of the greens and Garlic Broth can be substituted for the brodo. The technique in this recipe is stolen, with gratitude, from Pellegrino Artusi, a brilliant cook and gastronome who wrote The Art of Eating Well. Use a pot that is large enough to hold the colander over the stock without actually touching it, so that the egg can flow freely into the soup to form the strings.

An ingenious new treatment for dill.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less but requires additional unattended time.

Here's a light, fresh-tasting soup-stew from Hotel Château Erenstein in Kerkrade, the Netherlands.