It’s been a biting cold weekend in Dunedin and snow is forecast for tomorrow, so this hearty vegetable cobbler with a topping of cumin scones really hit the spot this evening! This recipe was a new experiment that is going to be a firm favourite for us from now on, and I hope you enjoy it 🙂

Serves 4

Ingredients: Vegetable cobbler – 1 tbsp oil; 1 onion; 2 garlic cloves; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp cumin seeds; 1 tbsp fennel seeds; 2 tbsp ground paprika; pinch of chilli flakes; 1 vegetable stock cube; 1 carrot; 1 kumara (sweet potato); 2 tins of chopped tomatoes; 1 tin of butter beans; salt & pepper. Cumin scones: 125g self-raising flour; 50g wholemeal flour; 85g plant butter; 1/2 tsp salt; 1tbsp cumin seeds; few tbsp cold water.

In an oven-proof pot, heat the oil and gently cook the finely chopped onion for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the finely chopped garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the tomato paste and spices, and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant. Pour in the tomatoes with the vegetable stock cube, the beans (with the water from the tin), the diced carrot and kumara, and a grind of salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes to enhance the flavours, stirring every so often, and add any further seasoning to taste. Meanwhile heat the oven to 180C and prepare the scone mix.

In a large bowl, mix the flours with the salt and cumin seeds, then chop the plant butter into small pieces and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Carefully add a small amount of cold water, just enough to bring the dough together into a ball. Roll out onto a floured surface into a circle about 2cm thick. Cut into 6 wedges.

Place the scone wedges on top of the vegetable cobbler, and put the whole pot in the oven for 30 mins. Scatter with fresh herbs (parsely/thyme/oregano) and serve with some crusty bread and a fresh salad (or garden peas, or whatever you fancy…)