Instructions: Combine chickpeas, sliced garlic and rosemary in a large saucepan with fresh water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, partly covered, for at least 1 hour, or until chickpeas are fairly tender. Add additional water if necessary, and skim any foam that rises to the surface.

Scoop out and discard herbs. Add carrot, celery, onion, and salt and pepper to taste to pan. Continue to cook until chickpeas and vegetables are soft, at least 20 minutes longer. Remove about half the chickpeas and vegetables; carefully puree in a blender, adding cooking liquid as needed.

Return puree to pan; stir. Add minced garlic and sausage. Reheat, adding more water if the mixture is too thick. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve, drizzled with olive oil.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Variation: To use canned chickpeas, drain and rinse 4 cups and combine with 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock and the vegetables. Cook until vegetables are tender, then proceed as above.

Comments: Chickpeas can almost make a soup on their own. Not all soups need to start with stock to taste rich and full. Chickpeas, more than any other legume, exude so much flavor into plain water as they cook that they can almost make a soup on their own. Garlic, herbs and a few aromatic vegetables add another dimension, but the trick to a superb soup is even simpler: puree some of the cooked chickpeas, stir them back in, and the soup becomes sublimely if deceptively creamy.

This is a wonderful vegetarian soup, but it can be easily turned into a meatier meal by adding leftover chicken, beef, pork or lamb or something cooked especially for the soup, such as pan-grilled sausage, shrimp or more vegetables.

Probably the most obvious question about this recipe is whether it will work with canned chickpeas. The answer is yes - within limits. The liquid in which most canned chickpeas are packed is not the light, flavorful broth that results from simmering the legumes at home, but instead is a heavy substance whose flavor is mysterious at best. Canned chickpeas should be rinsed before using; they can then be combined with water or, better still, chicken or vegetable stock before simmering with the other seasonings.

Chickpeas can be cooked without being soaked, but they will cook more quickly if they are soaked 6 to 12 hours. Either way, the cooking time is unpredictable, depending largely on how much moisture the chickpeas have lost in storage (older beans, being drier, require longer cooking). Soaked chickpeas will take about an hour and a half to turn tender; dry ones, 30 minutes longer.

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