If this isn’t soup weather, I don’t know what is.

Between the hail, frost, snow-dusted city streets, and astonishing videos of people cross-country skiing through white-covered Wine Country vineyards, I feel like I need to pile on every wool sweater and down coat that I own just to walk out my front door.

The time is right to quash that chill — with squash.

With “Winter Squash and White Bean Soup” to be exact.

This hearty, velvety and nourishing soup recipe is from “The Complete Modern Pantry” (2022), of which I received a review copy, by America’s Test Kitchen.

This handy-dandy book features more than 350 recipes and tips to teach how to better cook from your pantry, as well as recommendations for ingredients to always keep on hand.

What I especially love about this book is that each recipe features a specific “pantry improv,” so if you don’t have a certain ingredient on hand, there’s a suggested alternative. For “Bucatini with Peas, Kale, and Pancetta,” for instance, you can sub in spinach in place of the kale, and frozen fava beans or edamame for the peas. For “Skillet-Roasted Carrots with Spicy Maple Bread Crumbs,” use honey or agave syrup for the called-for maple syrup or let parsnips stand in for the carrots. For “Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken,” feel free to mix it up and use pork tenderloin instead. And for “Tahini-Banana Snack Cake,” peanut butter or sesame paste can replace the tahini.

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