Tomato cobbler

For many consecutive summers I tended to Mr Pask’s tomatoes in return for pocket money; the beginning of my little tomato love affair. He had a tiny greenhouse, two doors down, that became stiflingly sweaty in the Summer sun and was packed with tomato plants dripping with fruit. Years later I only think a tomato is really good if its smells like that greenhouse; dusty with scent and deep red in colour.

Tomatoes have a lengthy, full season that runs right from June to October so some might say that right now they are at their peak. The temptation is often to add them to a salad, chop them up for a bolognese or pair with cheese for the classic sandwich but I wanted to make the tomato a star of this recipe.

Think Parmesan dumplings and you’ve just about got what this cobbler will be like. For this recipe I gently fried the onions until they buckled from the heat and turned soft and caramel in colour. I then mixed them with plenty of fresh tomatoes, thyme, garlic and brown sugar. The tomatoes do the talking. The cobbler is baked until sweet tomato juices break free and the cobbled crust is golden. Ideal for an August evening when the sun hasn’t shone quite as much as the weather forecast promised.