Seeing Red

Now's the moment to take advantage of all those tomatoes flowing into farmers' markets, heirloom or not, because they're not going to be around for long. And winter is long. So for a few minutes on a rainy day, you can sock away some delicious tomato dishes to pull from the freezer in February. That's how you carry the goodness on and treat your body.

The easiest trick I know for preserving the color, taste and nutritional bounty of fresh tomatoes is a simple Provencal soup made almost entirely from them. All you need is a fresh onion diced, 1 tbsp dried thyme or 4-5 fresh sprigs, 4-6 tomatoes, a dried chili or pinch of red pepper flakes and about 15 minutes. Start by melting two tbsp of unsalted butter in a medium or large heavy gauge pot. Throw in the diced onion and thyme and sauté over medium low heat until the onion is soft. While it's cooking, chop the tomatoes. (If you really want to be fancy you can blanch them first in boiling water for 1 minute, run them under cold water and slip off their skins but I don't bother anymore.)

When the onions are soft and translucent, add the chopped tomatoes, some ground black pepper and the dried chili or flakes. Cover and cook over medium low heat until the tomatoes dissolve and you have what looks like thick sauce --depending on the juiciness of the tomatoes 5-10 minutes. Stir to blend, add salt to your taste and a handful of fresh parsley. You can now purée the soup--it should stay thick--and ladle it into freezer containers. Serve it with buttery garlic croutons and drink up the soul of summertime.

If you are more ambitious, you can make tomato jam, which usually goes on bread with cheese. It's especially tasty with the softer goat cheeses. I am still working on the optimum recipe for a tomato pie.

If you just plain want to eat those tomatoes right now but can't think how to be creative beyond mozzarella and basil salad, try stuffed tomatoes: You have to start with equally sized medium sized ripe tomatoes. Cut them open at the stem end and hollow them out, leaving a good inch for your container. For 6 tomatoes, cook up a cup of orzo according to package instructions, drain it and coat it with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt.
Put the orzo in a large bowl, add 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro depending on your taste. Add 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add 1 tbsp toasted pine nuts and 1 clove garlic minced. Add 4 scallions finely chopped and 1 can tuna fish packed in olive oil. Blend everything and dress it with the juice of 1/2 lemon and olive oil. Stuff this into the hollowed out tomatoes, arrange on a platter and serve with crusty bread and a platter of cheeses.