Tomatoes have been known to drive otherwise mild-mannered green thumbs into fits of garden gluttony.

Who hasn’t snagged a Sun Gold – or 10 – off the vine? And who needs a cutting board? That’s for sissies. A true tomato lover wouldn’t hesitate to grab a sun-warmed heirloom and take a big, juicy, chin-dripping, apple-style bite right in the garden.

Fresh tomatoes are like candy: sweet, tart, colorful – and completely irresistible.

But there’s another way to enjoy this favorite fruit. It involves a knife. And condiments. Oh, yeah, and a kitchen. This season, there are plenty of chances to indulge your passion – even if you play it safe and use a cutting board.

“It’s a good crop,” said Roger Doirion, who writes the Maine Nutrition Network’s weekly food newsletter, the Maine Market Basket. “It’s a little bit late, but it’s a good crop, and we’re getting a lot of different types.”

So much so that browsing the local farmers market seems like a stroll through a paint store. Baskets are brimming with tomatoes with names such as purple Cherokee, orange banana, green zebra, brandywine and yellow pear.

That rainbow appealed to Arizona-based restaurateur and cookbook author Shelley Sikora, who co-wrote “Tomatoes & Mozzarella” ($19.95, Harvard Common Press) with Hallie Harron.

“My husband teases me because I call tomatoes ‘the happy fruit,’ or ‘the happy vegetable,'” Sikora said by phone from Carmel, Calif., where she just attended the Heirloom Tomato Festival. “You have so many colors, it’s fun.”

The idea for the cookbook came when Sikora and Harron, longtime friends and foodies, were traveling in France. They noticed that every restaurant they visited offered some variation on the Caprese Salad, a combination of basil, tomatoes and mozzarella.

“We basically wanted to show people there’s more things you can do with tomatoes and mozzarella than slicing them up and putting them on a plate,” Sikora said. “Plus, it’s healthy.”

It’s common to find the ingredients paired up in pizza or pasta bakes, but the authors came up with many unexpected combinations. Sure, they include the classic Caprese, but they also offer up a Tricolored Gazpacho and Parmesan Cannoli Filled with Golden Romas and Bocconcini.

“When you’re looking for something fast and fresh, rather than going the fast food route, there are a lot of recipes that are not cooking, but just assembling,” Sikora said. “No matter what time of year, it’s great.”

Of course, this time of year is special for local chefs, and tomato season plays a big part in that. Kathy Winberg of Pairings in Winterport has developed an entire cooking class around the harvest.

“It’s so short, you just have to enjoy it,” she said.

In Winberg’s opinion, it’s best not to fuss much with a fresh tomato. In her class, she plans to teach students how to enjoy simple, elegant dishes such as a grilled bread and tomato salad or a rustic tomato tart. At home, she favors quick salads: thickly sliced tomato with balsamic, olive oil and chopped fresh chives; or chopped multicolored tomatoes tossed with an Italian dressing, feta, olives and tuna. And she has her own, delicious way of savoring summer’s first tomato.

“I think there’s nothing better than a BLT with fresh garden tomatoes,” Winberg said.

Doiron likes to chop fresh tomatoes and let them steep at room temperature for a few hours with olive oil, basil and a creamy cheese such as brie or camembert. Then he pours piping hot pasta over the mixture and lightly tosses it to cook the tomatoes and cheese.

In addition to his work with the Maine Nutrition Network, Doiron also heads up Kitchen Gardeners International, an interactive, Web-based celebration of home-grown food. On that site (www.wegrowfood.com), he recently posted tomato recipes from around the world.

He also posted a favorite quotation from the legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher, which sums up the feelings of fearless tomatophiles everywhere:

“The best way to eat them is in the garden, warm and pungent from the vine, so that one can suck them unashamedly, and bend over if any juice escapes.”

Pasta Caprese

Serves 4

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes of varying colors, seeded and coarsely chopped

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into bite-size strips

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces farfalle (bowtie) pasta

Mix tomatoes, cheese, olive oil, vinegar, basil and garlic in a large bowl. Allow to macerate at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Cook pasta, pour into bowl with tomato mixture and stir until cheese begins to melt. Serve garnished with fresh basil leaves.

Adapted from Bon Appetit.

Penne with Fresh Tomatoes, Garlic and Feta

Serves 4

2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, chopped and seeded

6 ounces feta, crumbled

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces penne pasta

Mix tomatoes, feta, olive oil, vinegar, herbs and garlic in a large bowl. Allow to macerate at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Cook pasta, pour into bowl with tomato mixture and stir. Serve.

Note: This recipe also works well cold as a pasta salad. Prepare as directed and refrigerate, then add a bit of oil and vinegar before serving to perk up the flavor.

Belgian Fresh Tomato Stuffed with Shrimp Salad

Serves 4

4 medium-sized, firm fleshed tomatoes

mayonnaise (homemade, if you can), to taste

fresh lemon juice, to taste

Fresh parsley, to taste

1/2 pound cooked baby shrimp (the Belgians use “gray shrimp” coming from the North Sea, but Maine shrimp also will work)

Cut tops off tomatoes and remove insides. Salt and pepper the inside of each tomato. Mix shrimp, lemon juice, chopped parsley, and mayonnaise in a separate bowl, fill tomatoes and serve.

Adapted from Kitchen Gardeners International.

Indian Spiced Tomato and Ginger Salad

Serves 4

4 medium to large tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup fresh ginger, peeled and sliced paper thin

Chopped mint, to taste

1 medium spicy pepper (banana chile works well) seeded and sliced fine

Salt, to taste

Place ginger and chile in a small glass or ceramic bowl. Add lime juice, salt and pepper and let stand for 20 minutes. Slice tomatoes and arrange on plate. Add mint, salt and pepper. Add ginger mixture evenly over tomatoes. Serve chilled.

Adapted from Kitchen Gardeners International.

Parmesan Cannoli Filled with Golden Romas and Bocconcini

Serves 4.

1 cup diced Golden Roma heirloom tomatoes (or regular red plum tomatoes)

1/2 cup diced fresh mozzarella cheese (about 2 ounces)

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Mix together all ingredients except Parmesan in a large bowl.

Heat a small, lightly oiled nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spread 1/3 cup of the Parmesan cheese in an even layer on the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the cheese melts and forms a solid cake, about 2 minutes. the bottom will be light golden brown. Remove it from the skillet and quickly form the cheese into a cylinder around a cannoli tube, a wooden dowel or a thin rolling pin

Repeat with the remaining cheese, oiling the skillet again as necessary.

As the cannoli shells cool, gently remove them from the forms. Fill each shell with 2 generous tablespoons of the tomato-mozzarella mixture. Serve immediately.

From “Tomatoes and Mozzarella” by Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora.

A tomato primer

. Heirloom: According to “Tomatoes and Mozzarella,” commercial heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated tomatoes that were brought into market before 1940. Family heirlooms have been passed down from generation to generation. Each has a distinct quality and interesting flavor.

. Beefsteak: As the name suggests, these are big, meaty and juicy. Perfect for slicing in salads and sandwiches, or for recipes that involve only light cooking.

. Plum: Available canned or fresh, these tomatoes (Roma is among the better-recognized varieties) work well in sauces, bakes and other dishes that require full cooking. They’re meaty and have less moisture than other varieties, so in sauces, they don’t need to be cooked down as much.

. Cherry: Small, sweet and delicious, these little gems are great in salads and on the grill. They also work well for quick sauces, but are a bit acidic for slow-simmered sauces.

Recipe resources

. “Tomatoes and Mozzarella” by Hallie Harron and Shelley Sikora, $19.95, Harvard Common Press. Available in bookstores and specialty shops.

. Maine Market Basket, www.maine-nutrition.org/Maine/marketbasket.htm

. Kitchen Gardeners International, www.wegrowfood.com

. Epicurious (the online recipe bank for Gourmet and Bon Appetit), www.epicurious.com