For some people, the gutsiness of escarole and curly endive can be hard to take in a salad, but cook them into a soup like this one and those same folks will fall in love. Those greens simmered in good broth with a little wine, tomato, pasta and chickpeas are pure Italian home food.

This was how my Italian grandmother got me to eat the greens I detested. They say I was a bright child, but I didn't catch on to what she was doing until I was well into my teens.

You could cook the soup a day ahead up to adding the pasta. When you want to serve it, bring it to a simmer 10 minutes ahead and cook in the pasta.

Ingredients

• 8 cups (double recipe) Cheater's Homemade Broth (recipe follows), or canned chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup whole canned tomatoes, crushed with your hands (do not use canned crushed tomatoes)
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium to large onion, minced
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 large handfuls escarole or curly endive leaves, fine chopped (2-1/2 to 3 cups)
• 1/3 tight-packed cup fresh basil leaves, fine chopped
• 1/2 cup tiny pasta (alphabets, orzo or stars)
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup or more fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Cheater's Homemade Broth:

• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed (leave unpeeled if organic)
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 canned tomato
• 1 bay leaf, broken
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crumbled
• Three 14-ounce cans chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 medium to large onion, coarse chopped (if organic, trim away root but leave skin)
• 1/2 large celery stalk with leaves, coarse chopped
• 1/2 medium carrot, coarse chopped (leave unpeeled if organic)

1. In a 6-quart pot combine the broth, wine, and tomatoes. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes. Add the garlic, onion, chickpeas, greens, and basil. Simmer partially covered 20 minutes.

2. Stir in the pasta and simmer, partially covered, 6 minutes or until pasta is tender. Taste soup for seasoning. Serve hot, passing the cheese to be sprinkled on the soup as its final seasoning.

Cheater's Homemade Broth

• Makes about 4 cups; doubles and triples easily.
• 5 minutes prep time; 30 minutes stove time
• The broth keeps 4 days refrigerated and 6 months frozen.

Let's face it, I can extol the glories of homemade chicken and vegetable broths until Hades freezes over. In reality, the only people still making their own broth are me and an 80-year-old woman in Siberia. The can of "low sodium" broth is winning.

How about meeting me halfway? Take that can, add a few ingredients and give them 30 minutes on the stove, and you will have a broth you can build a reputation on. You can prepare this recipe with either vegetable or chicken broth.

Every flavor-boosting trick we know goes into this recipe. There is garlic, aromatic vegetables and herbs and, most important of all, white wine and tomatoes, two umami superstars. Umami is a chemical component that heightens flavors and makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Cook to Cook: One of the overlooked bonuses of cooking with organic vegetables is that you get use the whole vegetable, peels and all, without worrying about questionable elements.
For instance, an onion's skin is literally and culinarily pure gold. A good example is this soup, where the organic onion is simply rinsed, the root trimmed away and the rest put in the pot. That skin turns the broth tawny gold and lends an edge of flavor.

1. In a 4-quart pot, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a simmer, partially cover, and cook for 30 minutes.

2. Strain the broth into a bowl or a storage container. Either use it right away, refrigerate it, or freeze it.