Before we begin, it's only fitting that we in the Flaming Pie service pay tribute to the inventor of the Vegetarian Bridie. So, here is the Linda McCartney Memorial Joke:

*** Q: What is yellow and wrinkly and lives off a corpse (answer at foot of recipe.)

Now, Soup. As Sgr. Jelli and I were discussing, "Suppa" in Italian tends to imply a sort of thick pottage that could conceivably be eaten with a fork. The type of soup you eat with a spoon is called "Brodo." So, here's a soup you can eat with a fork. It's a variant on the "Pasta e Ceci" I gave yous the other week.

Pasta e Ceci alla Primavera.

Take a medium onion. Slice very finely. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan. Throw in the onion. Cover and heat gently for ages, until the onion starts to caramelise.

Take two medium courgettes. Cut in quarter lengthways and slice finely. Turn up the heat and fry with the onions until staring to brown.

Finely dice a couple of medium potatoes. Crush three or four cloves of garlic. Add to the pan. Turn down the heat and continue to sweat. Lots of garlic is important.

After a few minutes, top up the pan with water. Then add 2/ 3 of a can of chickpeas. Mash or blend the remainder of the can and add. Throw in a couple of bayleaves (not optional - the flavour goes very nicely). Boil until the potatoes soften. Then add a couple of stock cubes and/or salt (Don't add earlier. It makes the chickpeas hard. Incidentally, my local shop is selling 5 cans of chickpeas for 99p.)

Add a good handful of pasta. Now, some supermarkets sell a type which is ideal. I can't recall the name just now. It's like papadrelle cut into squares. You could break up a few lasagne. Alternately, use macaroni. Cook until soft.

Serve piping hot, topped with chopped parsley and freshly grated parmesan. Or preferably pecorino. I know there is at least one recent convert to fresh parmesan out there!

*** A: Yoko Ono.

(The Linda joke would have been just too tasteless. If you haven't heard it, see me privately.)

One more joke: Why is George Michael like Lord Irvine? They both enjoy a Constable in the bathroom.

Da dad DA dah Dah Dah-ah-ah. Every one a gem.