Tomato Cobbler

A delicious tomato cobbler with mozzarella crust.

Martha has done it again! Flipping through the July issue of Martha Stewart Living to which my mother kindly subscribed me as a Christmas present, I came across a recipe for a tomato cobbler with Gruyere biscuits. Kind of a cross between the layered style of a traditional dessert cobbler and a pot pie topped with biscuity goodness, I was surprisingly drawn to this recipe. Though I love biscuits on their own, I never found my mother's chicken pot pie with biscuit topping appealing while growing up (sorry Mom!). And with a sweet tooth as potent as mine, I never would have thought a savory cobbler would satisfy. But reading through Martha's recipe made me change my mind.

Though I used her recipe as inspiration and largely did my own thing, the essence of this dish is actually quite a sensible choice for me. Cherry tomatoes have the most delicious flavor when roasted, and this recipe concentrates all that sweet tomatoey goodness in the filling. I'm a lover of pie, even savory ones, and I made my cobbler crust a pit more pie-like to increase the potential of me falling in love with this meal. I also added mozzarella instead of gruyere to further appeal to my appetit,e which made this resemble an upside down pizza of sorts more than anything else.

And oh did I create a winner here (though I still do send most of the thanks and recognition Martha's way)! Instead of using biscuit-shaped dumplings atop the cobbler, I created a rustic pie crust of sorts to spread over the tomatoes. And I downsized the portion for just myself and Mike, so the measurements and cooking times were adjusted. Unfortunately, I thought I had some garlic on hand but it had gone bad and I figured garlic powder is bad than aversely fragranced garlic (Martha would never!). And then shallots were used instead of onions because they were all that I had on hand. I served the finished cobbler nearly as soon as it emerged from the oven, so there were plenty of runny tomato juices sloshing around. A bit of cornstarch and a little more patience would likely cure that by making for a more thick filling! I'm sure there are plenty of ways to adapt this recipe that would be equally delicious, but Martha's ideas provided a great starting point for them all!

I couldn't find an online version of the exact recipe but you can reference a pretty close one here or follow my loose instructions for my adaptation below. I sort of guessed how to make it work as I went along so the measurements may not be perfect, but there's plenty of room for experimentation and variation with this one! Other vegetable ingredients could be added, different types of cheese used, alternate herbs, vinegars, and more! The possibilities are vast for savory summertime cobblers!

Tomato Cobbler

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium scallions, sliced
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 cups whole small heirloom tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes work well too)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, chopped
• 2 slices mozzarella cheese, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced shallots and season with salt and garlic powder. Saute until soft and fragrant.

2. In a 9 by 5 baking dish, combine sautéed shallot mixture with tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour with chopped butter. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the flour (essentially with this step you want to break the butter up into smaller and smaller pieces while distributing it throughout the flour). Mix in mozzarella pieces and then add skim milk. Stir until a dough forms.

4. Spread the dough over tomato mixture, either as a flat pie crust or in the shape of thick and doughy biscuits. I added a little extra mozzarella cheese over top the crust too!

5. Cook the cobbler in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes until the tomatoes are beginning to burst and the crust is cooked through (baking times may vary based on the shape of your crust - a thin crust will cook more quickly than thick biscuits). Enjoy!