Roasted Tomatoes with Parmesan Cornbread

I've got a tomato theme going on. Here's a great recipe that you can create in under an hour and impress your friends and family, whenever you make it.  You'll even impress yourself! 

Now, to the good stuff.  I used Farmer Ground Cornmeal from one of the NYC greenmarkets that I picked up a few weeks back and cherry tomatoes from another farmers market. An easy and flavorful way to use some local seasonal produce and grains! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of cornmeal (Farmer Ground Flour, produced in NY)

2/3 cup of all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/3 cup of milk (whole, 1% or 2%)

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

A pinch of salt, pepper

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup of parmesan

1 Tbsp basil

1 Tbsp oregano

1 Tbsp parsley

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease an 8 inch cast iron skillet with butter.  Prepare and cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place in an oven proof baking dish.  Drizzle the tomatoes with 2 Tbsp olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake the tomatoes in the oven for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in one bowl.  Add in the wet ingredients, including the egg, milk, and vegetable oil and stir until the ingredients are well combined.  Add the cornbread mix to the skillet and bake for about 15 minutes. Take the skillet out of the oven and place the cherry tomatoes (cut in half), parmesan, and oregano, basil and parsley into the slightly baked cornbread. Be sure to wear gloves as the skillet is hot.  Place the skillet back in the oven for another 20 minutes.  The cornbread should lightly brown on top, once complete.  You'll also want to stick a toothpick into the center of the cornbread to ensure that the wet ingredients have completely baked through.  Remove from the oven and allow the cornbread to cool.  This makes a great side dish or appetizer to any meal!