Slow Roasted Tomato Cobbler

Cobbler can be used to refer to a variety of foods, in this case it refers to a cooked vegetable filling, covered with a savoury scone. In theory you can take this concept and apply it to virtually any filling and topping, however given that the scone topping is relatively dry, the filling needs to be relatively wet.

My mother first introduced me to this recipe a few weeks ago, and I was instantly rather taken with it, the flavours of herbes de provence, rich, sweet tomatoes and caramelized onions melded so fantastically together. When I arrived back in britain for the new term, I made the dish for my housemates.

I started by slow roasting the tomatoes, and yes, I was forced to roast them significantly faster than I would otherwise have liked to. This being january, the tomatoes pale in comparison to the ones from my parents garden, but they were delicious nonetheless. I put the tomatoes in a large earthenware dish, doused them with olive oil and salt & pepper and roasted them for a good hour and a medium-hot oven.

When the tomatoes are almost done, lightly fry a couple of onions until soft. In order to stop the onions from browning, season them lightly with salt. When they are cooked through, turn off the heat and add balsamic vinegar to the pan, reducing it to form a thick sauce, tossing the onions in the vinegar to coat them.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven, and cover with the onions, make the scones (recipe below) adding parmesan and herbes de provence and roll the mixture out to a 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out the scones using either a cookie cutter or a wine glass, and cover the onions with them. Brush the scones with an egg wash and cook the dish on a high heat for half an hour, or until the scones are risen and golden