Summertime, summertime!  It is the best of seasons, but even summertime must come to an end.  But the upside is that the farmers’ markets and grocery stores are full of late summer produce; zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!  I love tomatoes and anything you can make with them.  After getting home from two weeks away, we had very little in our refrigerator.  So when I saw this recipe by Chef Extraordinaire Mark Bittman, I knew I had to make it.  Like immediately.   Most people think of cobblers as a dessert, or something sweet.  But Bittman opened up a new culinary horizon with a vegetable cobbler.  I had never heard of such a thing, have you?  Easy to make, and even easier to eat, this cobbler recipe will often be made at my house!   This could be served as part of breakfast, for lunch or dinner along with meat, salad or additional vegetables.  You can also choose to serve this hot, warm or cold. Simple and elegant, this is so good!

I chose to make this, not in a skillet, but in a ceramic pie plate.  If you chose to do this, I would recommend making about a third more of the biscuit ingredients to completely cover the surface of the tomato-onion filling.  The amount of ingredients I’m noting below are for Bittman’s skillet version.  Also, for a more tender biscuit, cook for the lesser amount of time.

Note: If the taste of the onions and garlic are too strong; sauté them in a little olive oil for a few minutes, or until softened, then add to tomatoes.

 

Cherry Tomato Casserole

By Mark Bittman

 

Diff: Easy     Prep: 10 min

Cook: 20-25 min   Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

 

• ⅓– ½ cup Olive Oil

• 2 Tbsp. cold butter, cubed

• 1 large egg

• ¾ cup flour

• ¾ cup cornmeal

• ¾ tsp. baking powder

• ¼ tsp. baking soda

• ½ cup buttermilk

• 2 pints (4 cups) cherry tomatoes

• 2 garlic cloves, sliced

• 1 medium red onion, sliced

• 5-6 large basil leaves

• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

 

Instructions

 

• Heat oven to 425 F°. Grease a medium oven-proof skillet with olive oil or butter.

• Cut up 2 Tbsp. cold butter into cubes, set aside (I recommend putting butter back in refrigerator to keep it cold.)

• Beat 1 egg in a small bowl, set aside.

• Put ¾ cup flour, ¾ cup cornmeal, ¾ tsp. baking powder and ¼ tsp. baking soda, and a pinch of salt into the bowl of a food processor.

• Add cold butter to food processor and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs.

• Add the egg and ¼ cup buttermilk, and pulse until the mixture becomes a sticky batter.

• Wash and halve 2 pints of cherry tomatoes; put in a medium sized bowl.

• Peel and very thinly slice 2 garlic cloves, and add to bowl.

• Peel, halve and thinly slice 1 medium sized red onion and add to bowl also.

• Drizzle the tomato mixture with about ¼-⅓ cup olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss until all pieces are coated with oil.

• Put tomato mixture in the skillet, and top with dollops of the biscuit batter to cover most of the top surface.

• Bake until the biscuits are golden and cooked through, and the tomatoes and onion are softened; about 20-25 minutes.

• Chiffonade* basil leaves. *Place leaves on top of each other, roll together, slice across thinly. 

• When cobbler is done, sprinkle ½ cup grated Parmesan on top and sprinkle with the basil leaves. Drizzle with a little more olive oil, than serve.

Just eating this cobbler makes me happy because it tastes like sunshine! This great vegetarian fare is meant to be shared with your friends and family to celebrate the end of the season!

 

Until  next time, wishing you all of God’s blessings, good health and happy eating!

Smiles and blessings,

Maria

P.S.  Sorry about the date stamp on the pictures.  Gotta get that fixed!