Gardeners can turn tomatoes into paste

Many gardeners face a surplus of ripe tomatoes at the end of the summer. After neighbors, family and friends have taken their share, you still might have too many to eat.

The solution, food columnist Amy M. Topel suggests in The Green Guide, is to cook tomatoes down to their essence in a paste, so that all through the winter you can add their tangy goodness to pasta sauce, soups, stews and even vinaigrettes.

Wash, core and cut at least 5 pounds of ripe tomatoes into large dice. Place in a heavy pot -- enamel-coated cast iron works best -- cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. The tomatoes will have a soupy texture.

Remove the lid and continue cooking for about two hours, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom and sides of the pot to avoid scorching. Stop when a paste forms, thick enough that as you move it around the pot it does not flow.

Pass the mixture through a medium strainer or food mill (take the pulp to the compost pile). Freeze the paste in ice-cube trays, then store cubes in freezer bags or containers. The paste will keep frozen for a few months, and refrigerated for one month.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of tomato paste, with a slightly thinner consistency than canned and a much fuller flavor.

Topel is an instructor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University.

Source: The Green Guide, September-October issue, www.thegreenguide.com .