Cold, dreary days cry out for the warm comfort of soul-soothing meatball soup

We’re smack dab in the middle of soup season. Evenings are moving from cool to cold and darkness rushes in at 4:30 p.m. We need soul-soothing food now, especially after such a tumultuous election, no matter which squares you filled in.

A bowl of good soup is about as comforting as it gets. Your body is nourished and your spirit revived with broth-soaked vegetables, fragrant herbs and a comforting dose of carbs in the form of rice or noodles. It’s fun to make — just put everything in a pot and cook! — and smells wonderful while it simmers on the stove. With a hunk of crusty bread, you’ve got a meal.

I love a vegetable-packed bowl of soup any time, but during the cold months, I want something humans have been eating since the invention of clay pots: meat simmered in its juices with whatever other edible things are at hand. So when I saw a recipe for meatball soup in the New York Times, I perked up and stowed the idea in a corner of my brain. When my daughter called from college and reminisced about the meatball soup she used to enjoy at a local café, I took it as a sign from the universe that I needed to get in the kitchen and take some meatballs for a brothy swim.

I used frozen meatballs for ease, but if you feel like you need some meditative meal-rolling, go right ahead and make your meatballs from scratch. This recipe doesn’t require a specific type of meat so just use whichever kind you prefer.

I couldn’t decide whether to put pasta or rice in my meatball soup, so I made a compromise: orzo, or pasta shaped like grains of rice. I discovered this tiny, versatile carb about a year ago and now I make it regularly. Because it’s so small, it cooks very quickly. (Waiting an entire 10 minutes for regular-size penne or linguine to cook is just too much sometimes.)

In a rare departure from form, I tried not to overcomplicate this recipe. Instead of shortcuts, I took the long road to soup, although you don’t have to. Put everything in a pot and simmer it until it’s done if that’s all you’ve got the time or inclination to do. However, if you think that only scoundrels and ne’er do wells take shortcuts, there are two “long-cuts” that can enhance the soup’s flavor.

First, I baked my meatballs in the oven according to package directions to give them brown, crispy exteriors and then I threw them in the soup. Second, I sauteed the onion, carrots, garlic and Italian seasoning in the pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil before adding broth. I let the onions get just a smidge brown to bring out their sweetness.

If you’re picky about the texture of your pasta, there’s another thing you can do, although I didn’t bother. You can wait to add the orzo until about 10 minutes before serving it so that it cooks al dente (with a slight resistance to biting) instead of letting it wallow around in the soup and soak up broth down to its middle.

Make it however you like because the whole point of soup is there’s plenty of room for improvisation. Soup is the jazz of recipes and bold, spontaneous riffs are the heart of the creative process. That’s why making soup is good for your soul: You have the freedom to make it up as you go, and that’s pretty exhilarating. Maybe soup-making doesn’t offer the thrill of skydiving, but it’s certainly tastier and you’re less likely to pass out from sheer terror.

So go ahead. Follow my recipe or strike out for uncharted territory. Add different herbs or vegetables and use pearl barley or pearl couscous instead of orzo. Make it with udon noodles, egg noodles or rice noodles. Use sausage or chunks of chicken or lamb instead of meatballs. Take the meat out altogether. Raid your vegetable drawer and pantry. Just see what happens when you get in the kitchen and stand in front of the soup pot. There is no right way to make soup; there is only the soup you create in the moment, dependent on a stream of constantly shifting variables. The soup changes as you change, becoming what you need in at the time.

A long time ago, when my limbs were more limber than they are now, I took a yoga class. Our teacher was full of pithy morsels of spiritual enlightenment, but only one thing she said stuck with me: To counteract rising anxiety, say to yourself, “I have everything I need in this moment.” That might not be factually true at times, but when I repeat the mantra to myself, I become less focused on the critical lack of something and begin to think about the good things I do have.

All right. That’s enough enlightenment for one day. I have to pace myself or else I’m going to achieve total enlightenment in the next couple of years, and then I won’t have time for any fun because I’ll be busy thinking so many deep thoughts.

Instead, let’s talk about cheese, specifically the Parmesan rind. That’s an old trick to add extra flavor to soups and stews. It provides an element of umami or savoriness, which is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Obviously, the rind should be removed before serving, but I forgot to take it out and ended up serving myself a bowl with the rind, which had become moderately soft and chewy. I’m not ashamed to say that I cut the rind into pieces and ate it along with the rest of the soup. You, on the other hand, might not want to eat the rind, but I encourage you to at least be generous with the shredded Parmesan, creating a little hillock of cheese on top of your soup.

Some gurus advise against eating cheese because it blocks your spiritual vibrations (weird but true). But I say eating cheese makes you happy and grateful and those are exactly the kind of vibrations you need.

Italian Meatball Orzo Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced (about 1 cup)

2-3 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)

3-4 cloves minced garlic

6 cups vegetable or meat broth (3 14.5-ounce cans or 1 32-ounce box plus one 14.5-ounce can); use chicken, vegetable or beef broth depending on the type of meatballs (beef for beef, chicken for chicken).

1 14.5-ounce can of tomatoes

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2-3 bay leaves

1 26- to 28-ounce bag frozen meatballs, any kind

1 wedge of Parmesan cheese, hard rind separated from the cheese

1 cup dry orzo pasta

¼ cup chopped fresh oregano

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

Add the olive oil, onions, carrots and garlic to a large pot and heat over medium heat until vegetables are beginning to soften and onions just start to brown. Add the broth, Italian seasoning, tomatoes, bay leaves, meatballs and Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, add the orzo and reduce heat to low. Let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Remove the bay leaves and Parmesan rind, add the chopped fresh herbs and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately topped with additional chopped herbs and a generous heap of shredded Parmesan.