September 7, 2012
A few mornings a week, my friend Elizabeth and I jog together while we talk food and recipes — yes, we come home starving. This tomato cobbler is a recipe that Elizabeth has been tempting me with for what seems like a year! She helped develop this recipe before she left Martha Stewart Living and it sounded divine.
I’ve been waiting to try it out until I had enough cherry tomatoes. Since I’ve had tomatoes like crazy this season, this was another great way to use up some of my surplus. I served it for lunch, but I’ll make it again for a delicious dinner alongside a big salad. It’s a great recipe for entertaining because it can be made in advance and just popped in the oven. I’m excited to share this with you and I appreciate all the time the Martha test kitchen put into this one.
I had run out of red pepper flakes, so I just ground up some chile de arboles in my food processor to substitute.
Adapted ever so slightly from Martha (do I even dare?)
For the filling:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 pounds cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
For the biscuit 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
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 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, flour, and red pepper flakes with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and some pepper.
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, and then add cream, stirring with a fork to combine until dough forms – it will be slightly sticky.
Transfer tomato mixture to a 2-quart baking dish (2 inches deep). Spoon 7 clumps of biscuit dough (about 1/2 cup each) over the 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.
