HomemadE BananA FlouR PizzA DougH

Do you think that pizza and bananas can be combined into a single tasty salty dish?

Our banana pizza will neither be a dessert nor follow the traditional recipe for a dough.  Unfortunately, we have not yet found the formula to combine a traditional Neapolitan pizza (which, since 2017, appears in UNESCO‘s list of intangible cultural heritage) and bananas. However, we have succeeded in making an alternative and innovative crust for the pizza.

One thing, for sure, is that the Italian cuisine is one of the most popular ones in the world. Wherever you go across the world, you can always find an Italian restaurant. Especially because pizza is liked by almost everyone. In fact, it is a popular choice across the length and breath of all seven continents, even in the research bases of Antarctica (and if you still have any doubts left, have a look at the following publication from The Economist, Aug 23rd 2019: Which countries dominate the world’s dinner tables?).

But, could we join the two most consumed fruits and the most popular food in one dish?

You may have noticed that I mentioned two fruits rather than just one. Why? The reason is that bananas are globally the most consumed fruit, but only after tomatoes. Yes! Botanically, tomatoes are classified as fruits although, from a culinary perspective, they are considered as vegetables.

So, let’s get to work!

Ingredients:

→ 500 g Banana flour (that has been already used for another recipe: click on ✔ Banana bread)

→ 300 ml Lukewarm water

→ 10 g Salt

→ 25 ml Extra-virgin olive oil (its quality is truly going to make the difference)

→ 7 g Fresh yeast or 2-3 g Instant yeast

Recipe steps:

1st Sieve the banana flour into a bowl.

2nd Using a spoon, make a hole in the flour (as if you were making a small volcano). Add the yeast to the water and whisk until dissolved. Then pour the mixture into the flour’s hole.

3rd Little by little and from the inside out, mix these ingredients using a spoon, until the whole becomes doughy.

4th Add the olive oil and the salt, then mix everything by hand.

5th Place the dough onto a clean surface sprinkled with flour and knead it by hand. Then, stretch the dough and roll it in a spiral. Lastly, put everything together and knead it gently for 10 minutes.

6th Transfer the dough into a greased bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and set aside for 60-90 minutes.

7th Once this waiting time is passed, you can remove the dough to a lightly flour-dusted surface and knead it again. Since this dough, made of banana flour, is crumblier than the traditional one, it is much better to roll it into a big circle and cut it into different tiny circles using a glass.

8th Top the mini pizzas with your favorite ingredients. Nevertheless, the best choice would be a group of toppings that enhances the contrast between the sweet taste from the dough, and the salty one from the toppings.

9th Finally, bake the mini pizzas at 200 °C for about 12 minutes & enjoy them!.