James Villas is kind of a classy guy. He was the food and wine editor of Town & Country magazine, where articles are written, as a recent one was, by people whose parents took them to Paris for their fourth-grade spring break. Villas has three university degrees in language and literature, was a Fulbright scholar, writes novels and cookbooks and has won the prestigious James Beard Award, the Pulitzer Prize of food writing. In short, he’s not the kind of guy you think would devote an entire volume to ground meat.

But “From the Ground Up” (Wiley, 2011) is a paean to burgers, meatballs, patties, dumplings, potpies, loaves, croquettes, casseroles, stews, sauces and soups – anything that can be made with ground meat. From sloppy Joes to rillettes of pork, chicken tetrazzini to duck quesadillas, Villas turns his considerable cooking chops to recipes from around the world featuring ground animal protein (including seafood). The result is a volume of tasty, fun and affordable dishes that can be served to the family or to the kind of guests who make sure their fourth-grader experiences spring break in Paris.

To be fair, Villas – who was raised in the South – has turned his well-trained palate to humble foods before. He previously wrote a book on casseroles (“Crazy for Casseroles,” published by Harvard Common Press in 2003), one on biscuits (“Biscuit Bliss,” same publisher, same year) and, more recently, one devoted to pork (“Pig: King of the Southern Table,” Wiley, 2010).

Despite the “around the world” nature of the recipes in “From the Ground Up,” the South gets the nod in a number of them. About Southern hamburger soup, Villas writes, “Nothing tastes better or warms the soul more on a cold winter day.”

APPETIZER

Southern Hamburger Soup

1 pound ground beef chuck

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 small green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

2 carrots, scraped and chopped

1 cup beef broth

1 cup tomato juice (or, preferably, V8 juice)

1 medium potato, scrubbed and diced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves

4 cups milk, divided

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large saucepan or pot, stir beef over moderate heat until nicely browned, about 10 minutes, and drain off all but about 1 tablespoon fat. Add onion, bell pepper and carrots and stir till the vegetables soften, about seven minutes. Add broth and tomato juice, bring to a simmer, cover and cook about 10 minutes. Add potato and parsley, cover and simmer 15 minutes longer.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 cup milk and flour until well-blended. Add to the soup, increase the heat slightly and cook till soup is thickened and bubbly. Add the remaining 3 cups milk, salt and pepper and simmer 10 minutes longer. Serve hot.

Yields six servings.