Recipe: Banana skin 'Bolognese'

 
 
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 BANANA SKIN BOLOGNESE

By Suzana Torres

Cooking for around 120 people every day, I discovered in practice the richness that is in every part of the food. That was also where I fell in love with the banana peel. The banana peel represents about 20% of the fruit’s weight. In Brazil alone we produce 7 million tons a year. So imagine that we throw away 1/5 of everything that was necessary to produce them.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Makes 2 servings

  • 4 banana peels

  • 1/4 cup onion in small cubes

  • 1/4 cup carrots in small cubes

  • 1 Tbsp chopped celery leaves

  • 2 chopped garlic cloves

  • 1 Tbsp of pitted black olives, chopped

  • 2 cups homemade tomato sauce

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil

  • Salt to taste

  • Black pepper and smoked paprika to taste

  • Fresh basil leaves

PREPARATION:

With a spoon, scrape the white part inside the banana peels (to remove the bitterness). The secret of this recipe, in addition to removing the white part, is to cut the peels into very small cubes. So sharpen the knife and let’s go.

Bring a skillet to medium heat and add the oil. When heated, add the onion and sauté until transparent. Add the garlic and let it brown slightly. Then add the banana peels and sauté for another 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the carrot, and sauté for another 2 minutes. Season with pepper, paprika, and salt. Be careful with the salt as we will be adding olives later.Lower the heat, add the tomato sauce, celery leaves, and olives. Cook until the carrots are tender.

Taste it and, if necessary, adjust the salt and spices. Turn off the heat and add the basil leaves. And it’s ready to be served!

This can be used as a pasta sauce, for pie or savory fillings (decrease the amount of tomato sauce as needed), as a stew base or as your creativity dictates!

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Taking full advantage of food

is a matter of intelligence and economy. It also shows respect for Mother Nature and everyone involved in its cultivation. It is a political act and one of the necessary actions for sustainable gastronomy.

I’m Suzana Torres, cook and defender of a kitchen handled with care and without waste. For two and a half years I was part of the Refettorio Gastromotiva team, where the philosophy of handling food with care and minimizing food waste made even more sense to me.

Since we have only one planet Earth, by dispensing the husks, we waste all the energy and water invested in planting the bananas and all the CO2 emitted in transport to get them from countryside to our home kitchens.

Stalks, seeds, cores, peels, leaves, and other edible parts of vegetables, in addition to being nutritional sources, can also be the basis of delicious meals. The recipe I present here is just one of many possibilities. So come and unleash your imagination.

 
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