Tomato Cobbler

For all the cooking I've done, this was the first summer I've ever made a tomato cobbler. I'm not sure why. I love roasted tomatoes and I love cobblers, but I just never thought to combine the two. At any rate, two recipes for this dish crossed my path at approximately the same time. One came from the the test kitchens of Martha Stewart, the other came from the very capable hands of Mark Bittman. I've made both recipes and they are quite similar to each other, save for the topping. The Stewart recipe uses luscious cream biscuits to top her cobbler, while Bittman uses a flavorful cornbread to finish his. Both cobblers are delicious and I decided to feature the one from Martha Stewart Living only because it is the more photogenic of the two. Tomatoes are the real star of this dish, and when cherry or grape tomatoes are roasted, they have a lovely sweet taste that is truly memorable and quite different than that of their larger cousins. They literally burst in your mouth, flooding it with flavor. You'll need time to pull this dish together, but I promise you won't regret a moment you spend making the cobbler. It comes very close to making my socks go up and down. Tomatoes are flooding markets right now, and if you are looking for new ways to prepare them, I highly recommend this recipe. If you are a fan of tomatoes I know you will love this dish. It can be used as a hearty side dish or light main course. Here's the recipe.

Tomato Cobbler...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Filling

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3 pounds cherry or grape tomatoes

1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Topping

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Coarse salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (2 1/4 ounces), plus 1 tablespoon, for sprinkling

1-1/2 cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing

Directions:

1) To make filling: Heat oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat. Cook onions, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 25 minutes. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Toss onion mixture, tomatoes, basil, flour, and red-pepper flakes with 1-1/2 teaspoons salt and some pepper.

2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

3) To make biscuit topping: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or rub in with your fingers until small clumps form. Stir in cheese, then add cream, stirring with a fork to combine until dough forms. (Dough will be slightly sticky.)

4) Transfer tomato mixture to a 2-quart baking dish (2 inches deep). Spoon 7 clumps of biscuit dough (about 1/2 cup each) over top in a circle, leaving center open. Brush dough with cream, and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon cheese. Bake until tomatoes are bubbling in the center and biscuits are golden brown, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool for 20 minutes. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.