Another less-is-more wonder. Chick peas, tomatoes and zucchini, onion and garlic and basil. No stock. And the end result, finished with a little good parmesan grated on top, is a very rich-tasting and satisfying soup. Ms. Minchilli suggests that some olive oil be drizzled over the soup at service; I found this unnecessary. One caution: basil is in the ingredient list but not in the instructions. I chopped my basil fine and added it just before I took the soup off the heat. I also followed the suggestion and pureed only part of the soup, leaving some nice chunky bits. I did peel the tomatoes and am glad I did.

This is one of those simple, homely recipes which is shockingly good. Couldn't be simpler and the added bonus--hardly any clean-up. Little potatoes and beans from the farmers' market, basil from the pot on the deck, olives, garlic, lemon and oil from the pantry combine for a lovely side (or for me, a main dish) as it is or served over greens with tomatoes and good bread on the side.

This potato dish is simply sublime. But the really fabulous thing here is the trick for infusing the olive oil with rosemary and garlic. It's so simple and so brilliant. I've used this oil on focaccia, other roasted vegetables, fish, shrimp--it's just so good!