I know what you’re thinking. You really don’t even have to say it. I put the words ‘tomato’ and ‘cobbler’ in the same recipe title. Clearly something has gone wrong here. How can it be cobbler without peaches, blueberries, strawberries… or maybe even some sort of salty bacon topping? How can it be cobbler without crunchy oats and cinnamon?
Trust me… I definitely had my reservations when it came to this recipe. I like tomatoes…. but how much do I reeaallly like tomatoes. If I pick around all the big tomato chunks in my dad’s spaghetti sauce… does that mean this dish is going to stress me out? Wait. There are biscuits involved. Do biscuits rescue any dish? Yes. They do. … it’s go-time.
These tomatoes are a big deal. They’re juicy and sweet. They’re amazing plain or roasted. They’re just begging to be fussed over. Really… they need no biscuit salvation. They’re divine on their own.
Tomatoes aren’t the only star of the show. Fresh basil, loads of sliced garlic, and balsamic are also a big deal in this simple recipe.
Beyond the sweet summer tomatoes, caramelized onions also play a leading role. They add a very grounding element to the sweet acidity of the dish. Luscious, I tell you. Dang luscious.
The seasoned herb, onion, and tomato mixture is tossed with a bit of flour that will act as a thickener. Toss it in the oven for a bit of pre-roasting while the biscuits are made and shaped. Your house will smell fantastic-o!
Another day. Another biscuit.
You know how it goes around here.
This time around we’re adding buttermilk and blue cheese.
The cheese happens to be a Danish buttermilk blue cheese. Swoon for real.
Biscuit dough is lightly kneaded and shaped.
And cut into perfectly imperfect circles.
I had a few extra biscuits that didn’t fit in the cobbler pan. Those went in the freezer, unbaked, for future-brunch.
Brush biscuits with buttermilk and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Get this goodness baking again!
Golden brown biscuits and warm, bursting tomatoes. If there were ever any doubt about the deliciousness of this recipe, about whether or not tomatoes could be substantial enough to carry a dish…. that all goes right out the window at this very moment.
Call your friends… this dish is dang good. It’s equal parts light and hearty. It’s sweet and savory. The blue cheese tang is out of this world in the tender biscuits. This dish is ultimately satisfying. This would be the perfect dish to bring to a summer potluck for a more substantial and hearty feel. Who wants to bring the girl with the banana-heavy fruit salad? No one wants to be that girl. Step it up!
Tomato Cobbler with Blue Cheese Biscuits
serves 6
inspired by Martha Stewart and the Clinton St Bakery Cookbook
For the Biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
3 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cold and cut into cubes (or substitute unsalted butter here)
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1/2 to 3/4 cup cold buttermilk
For the Filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 large onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 pounds cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup coarsely chopped basil (or a combination of chopped fresh thyme, oregano, and parsley)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and coarsely ground black pepper
To make the Biscuits:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add cold butter and shortening. With your fingers, quickly break up the fat into the dry ingredients. Rub the fats into the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Some butter pieces will be the size of small peas, other will be the size of oat flakes. Toss in blue cheese crumbles. Stir to incorporate.
Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture. Add buttermilk all at once. With a fork, quickly bring together the wet and dry ingredients. The dough will be rather shaggy. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough about 10 times, bringing it together into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the filling is assembled.
To make the tomato Filling:
Add olive oil and butter to a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook and brown onions, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 18 to 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute more. Remove pan from heat, add balsamic vinegar and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss together clean cherry tomatoes (no need to cut them), chopped basil (or whatever herbs you’re using), flour, and red pepper flakes. Add caramelized onions and toss together until everything is lightly and evenly coated in flour. Season with salt and pepper.
Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour the tomato and onion filling into a square 8×8-inch baking dish. Place in the oven and bake tomatoes filling for 15 to 18 minutes.
Remove the biscuit dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out biscuit dough into a 3/4 or 1-inch thickness. Use a 1 1/2 to 2-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Dip the cutter in flour should it get sticky.
Remove the partially cooked filling from the oven and carefully place 6 biscuits atop the tomato filling in the pan. Brush biscuit tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reshape and reroll excess biscuit dough to make extra biscuits at another time. (The shaped biscuit dough freezes very well.)
Return warm filling and biscuit dough to oven and bake for 17-22 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, and the tomato mixture is bubbling.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Tomato Cobbler is best served warm.
erin
this… this is amazing. I’m vegetarian and I always want to make those hearty recipes with gravy and biscuits but mostly they star meat. This is happening in my kitchen. When it’s summer. (I’m in Australia. I’ll wait till I can get heirloom tomats at the farmer’s market;)
Bakerkat
I wasn’t sure about this one but the pictures changed my mind. It looks so good.
Kasha the FarmGirl
I think Tomato Cobbler is GENIUS! And I just discovered a half-full tub of gorgonzola in my fridge.
I love you.
The Savory and The Beautiful
I’ve been wanting to make fresh biscuits forever and this is it! I am making this this weekend.
Jess
I feel like I’m always commenting that I will “make this…stat”, but this time, it’s for real. Stopping at the store for butter and blue cheese on my way home!
Rybka zwana Mart?
looks fabulous:)
Louise
Joy,
This sounds amazing…and like I have to have it for dinner tonight. However…since moving from Ireland to england 6 years ago, I haven’t been able to find uncultured buttermilk and as a result a lot of what I grew up with is un-baked :(
Is yoghurt always an ok substitute?
Lou
joythebaker
1/2 cup yogurt with 1/4 cup milk should be great!
lauran
You can make buttermilk by adding lemon to milk and letting it sit for a minute. It is a completely legitimate substitute.
look:https://joythebaker.com/2009/10/the-best-buttermilk-substitutions/
Kathryn
Ha, I pick round the big bits of tomato in spaghetti sauce too. There’s something about those weird massive (and hard!) lumps that really squicks me out. Roasted tomatoes, however, I can totally get behind especially when they’re nestled under a dreamy blue cheese biscuit!
Jamie @ green beans & grapefruit
You got it all right, Joy!
Margherita
Joy, you just made my life easier. I didn’t know what to fix for lunch (I have some friends coming over) and you posted this absolutely amazing recipe.
Can’t wait to try it!
<3
robyn
looks fab! my book (your book) arrived in the mail today-looks of baking ahead of me…yeahhh! :)
j3nn
Wow, that sounds like an amazing combination! I always think of so many other cheeses to pair with tomato and blue cheese is often forgotten. Blue cheese… right IN the biscuits. OMG. Needs a drizzle of honey. :)
Averie @ Averie Cooks
love the recipe and love love the rustic pan and the patina and vintage-ey vibe to it all – with the pops of yellows and reds.
gorgeous pics, joy!
Ann P.
my mouth is seriously watering right now! That is an awesome dinner for sure!
Darryl Snow
There are scones in your tomato cobbler but I can’t see any biscuits.