Banana Spaghetti
(which Huey made for his mother’s birthday in The Stories Huey Tells)
This recipe has two parts. The first part, which is a little messy but fun-- is making the spaghetti noodles. This recipe will serve just two people. You can double it to serve four. The first time you make the spaghetti, it will be easier to work with a smaller amount of dough.
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 2/3 cup flour
In a bowl, mash the ripe banana with a fork till it’s a puree (mushy with no lumps). Add the flour bit by bit, stirring it in. You will want to work in as much flour as the dough will accept. It will be sticky. When you can’t get any more flour into the dough, scrape it out onto a floured counter or table top and knead it with your hands. Make it into a ball, press it hard, fold it over and do that again and again, always working in more flour. (If you have a recipe book at home, follow the instructions for kneading home-made bread.)
When you have a smooth ball that is no longer sticky, cover the dough with a moist towel and let it sit for a half hour to an hour.
Clean your counter and sprinkle a little flour over it. Flatten the ball of dough and roll it out with a rolling pin. You do this just the way a pie crust is rolled; adding more flour to the counter so the dough doesn’t stick. Roll the dough as thin as possible--so it’s no thicker than three or four sheets of paper. Then cut the dough in narrow strips with a table knife. Cover them with a towel until you are ready to cook them.
Now, here’s the second part. Beat a cup of whipping cream in a medium-sized bowl. When the cream is a little fluffy, add a tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of ginger. Continue beating until the cream is whipped and makes soft peaks. Chop a banana in bits.
Heat a big pot of water until it boils. Drop in the spaghetti strips and cook them five minutes in boiling water. Then take them off the stove, and pour the water down the drain, catching the spaghetti strips in a sieve. (You should get a parent’s help to do this, so you don’t get scalded.) Let the spaghetti strips drain a few seconds.
Put them in a bowl. Add a sprinkling of sugar, salt, cinnamon and if you wish, some drops of hot pepper sauce---Tabasco sauce or some other brand. Stir in 3 Tablespoons of peanuts per serving.
Cover with the chopped banana and the whipped cream.
Second grade students at Tenacre Country Day School in Wellesley, Massachusetts and their teacher, Christina Grace, made Banana Spaghetti, from The Stories Huey Tells and shared their picture and the recipe with me.
View the students complete Ebook here.
Return to teachers page or book page.