You can buy sun-dried tomatoes already reconstituted and soaked in olive oil, but they’re expensive. It’s certainly easy enough—and only slightly less convenient if you think ahead—to begin with dried tomatoes. They’re almost as tough as shoe leather when you buy them but can easily be reconstituted: Soak them in hot water to cover until they’re soft, about an hour. (You might change the water once it cools to hasten the softening.) Drain the tomatoes and marinate them in a good fruity olive oil to cover (a half cup or more) for at least an hour. After that, making the tomato paste takes just a moment. Traditionally, the tomatoes are pounded, usually with garlic, in a mortar and pestle. I use a small food processor and like the resulting texture very much.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1/2 cup softened sun-dried tomatoes with their oil

　　1 small or 1/2 large garlic clove, or to taste

　　Salt

　　4 fresh basil leaves, chopped (optional)

　　1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)

　　3 tablespoons pine nuts

　　Additional extra virgin olive oil if necessary

　　

Step 1

Put the tomatoes and a tablespoon or so of their oil in a small food processor along with the garlic and a good pinch of salt. Process until fairly smooth, stopping the machine and stirring down the mixture with a rubber spatula as necessary.

　　

Step 2

Add the basil and lemon juice if you like; pulse the machine a few times to blend. Remove the paste from the machine and stir in, by hand, the nuts and just enough additional oil to make the mixture silky rather than oily. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The sauce will keep, covered with a thin layer of oil and refrigerated in a tightly covered container, for at least a week. But its flavor is best when served immediately.

　　

Where to use Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

Step 3

Some of the many uses for this sauce:

　　

Step 4

As a pasta sauce, but sparingly, and thinned with a little of the hot pasta cooking water

　　

Step 5

As a spread on bread or sandwiches

　　

Step 6

As a dip for raw vegetables or crackers

　　

Step 7

As a condiment for chicken or fish

　　

Step 8

As a sauce for cooked bland vegetables, such as boiled potatoes

　　From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books.Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.