Cut the eggplant in 1-inch cubes. Place the cubes in a colander, sprinkling them liberally with salt. Weigh the eggplant with a can set on a small plate and set the colander in the sink to drain for at least 1 hour. Then rinse the cubes thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels.

Cut the potatoes and carrot into cubes the same size as the eggplant. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, discard the seeds and inner white membranes, and slice thinly.

Add the oil to a big heavy saucepan or rondeau large enough to hold all the vegetables and place over medium-high heat. Quickly saute the eggplant and potato cubes for about 5 minutes, or until they just start to brown along the edges. Stir in the onion and celery, lower the heat to medium-low, and continue cooking and stirring until the onion softens and starts to turn golden. Add the carrot, chard, green beans, and peppers and stir to combine everything well.

Add 1/2 cup hot water to the vegetables in the pan, cover, and cook together for about 5 minutes, then stir in the chopped tomatoes, zucchini, and the aromatics, together with the hot pepper if desired. Add a pinch of salt, cover tightly, and cook for 30 minutes, adding a very little water from time to time if necessary. Remove oregano sprigs, bay leaf, and rosemary sprig before serving. Garnish each serving with a thin drizzle of olive oil.

Stufata means a cooking technique similar to a braise, in which the ingredients are cooked in little or no water; the juices from the vegetables themselves serve to give the soup its requisite "soupiness." This makes a very thick soup that should be served immediately, otherwise the vegetables absorb the small amount of liquid and it becomes more like a ciambotta, still delicious but no longer really a soup.

by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Excerpted by permission of Broadway Books, a division of the Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved.