There are two kinds of simple, I think. There's so simple that anybody can do it, and then there's so simple that nobody else will be able to do it ever again.
Weirdly, I reckon the first kind of simple is exemplified by panna cotta. This wobbling, pearl-skinned marvel seems so rarified and delicate that, on initially reading the ingredients list, the whole thing seems like a huge Italian prank. Milk, gelatine, a bit of cream and sugar? But I paid £9.95 for this in Covent Garden. And, listen, people are so impressed when you make it for them! In truth, though, with milk, gelatine, and a bit of cream and sugar, it would be harder to walk away from that scenario without making panna cotta. All over Rome, the party lines are buzzing with whispered confessions: it's so simple. IKR. It's harder to make the coulis.
For the second kind of simple, I'm tempted to say Charlie Brown's head, but I fear I've used this analogy before. No matter. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and try and draw Charlie Brown's head. Take your time. How did that go? He looks like a thug, right? Or a halloween pumpkin that's been through a trash compactor? Charlie Brown's head looks like it should be a cinch, but the Peanuts gang are all various degrees of incredible difficulty. Even Schulz himself would grow woozy with malice when a fan wrote in and asked him to knock out a quick Schroeder - and it wasn't the piano that made it so tricky.
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