Toasted bread, mashed banana, melted cheese and cinnamon sounds disgusting but is a surprisingly delicious combo. While one of my roommates has refused to try it, even shaming and bullying me for eating it, I would implore you to have an open mind.

The recipe comes from my friend Otávio who lives in Brazil. We were video chatting and to my surprise he started putting sliced mozzarella on a banana mid-convo. 

“What the fuck?” I politely asked.

Initially I was disgusted, confused and judgmental. Though I soon began to consider the ingredients individually. All them stars on their own, perhaps they could be stellar together.

Otávio said it was just something he made up and describes the flavor like a banana-dessert filling. Still, people think he is crazy for eating it. 

“People are willing to eat cheesecake but not banana and mozzarella,” Otávio said. 

Originally he made it by putting a bunch of mozzarella on a banana, microwaving it, mashing it into thick, paste-like consistency and adding cinnamon. 

In this form you just eat it with a spoon — which isn’t half bad. It’s kind of like a savory porridge or a really thick soup. But then we had the idea to add toast and voilá, banana mozzarella toast. 

The recipe is reminiscent of and possibly takes inspiration from one of Brazil’s famous dessert pizzas, banana pizza. Brazil has a unique pizza culture where you can get toppings unheard of in the United States. 

In Brazil, Domino’s Pizza offers banana pizza which consists of banana, mozzarella, cinnamon and sugar. Otávio said they even add sweetened condensed milk. 

Other dessert pizzas you will commonly find in Brazil include chocolate, inspired by the Brazilian dessert brigadeiro, and guava pizza, affectionately named Romeo and Juliet pizza. One recipe for the Romeo and Juliet pizza notes that while the name of course comes from the Shakespeare play, it could also come from the way nouns are gendered in Portuguese. In Portuguese, cheese is “queijo,” a masculine noun, while guava, “goiaba,” is feminine. 

Italians first immigrated to Brazil and America around the same time. It is unclear why desert pizza took off in Brazil rather than America. Otávio himself has no idea where it came from, but says it has been around forever. 

Brazilians do have an affinity for sweets. A article from Taste of Rio notes that: 

“Their most famous mountain is called The Sugar Loaf, they practically drink sugar with added coffee and their iconic drink, the caipirinha, is also full of that sweet stuff. They love various kinds of dessert, so why not make a dessert pizza?”

I read Otávio this quote and he agreed with it. He also said that there are a lot of obese people in Brazil, something not unlike the United States. In 2020 the percentage of adult obese people in Brazil was 29 percent compared to 41 percent in the United States.

Banana mozzarella toast isn’t an exceptionally “healthy” snack— enjoy in moderation. But at the very least take comfort in knowing there is no added sugar and that the banana adds nutrients.  

Otávio said the recipe he makes is similar to the banana pizza, but it isn’t what he was going for. I’ve tried looking up the recipe online to see if anything similar exists. 

I found comparable variations with honey butter and a recipe for a banana grilled cheese. I find these variations intriguing, but enjoy the simplicity of Otávio’s recipe. As a college student, I especially value a recipe that requires only five common ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to make. 

The end result is a bunch of mush on toast — and I’ll be the first to admit, it’s not the most attractive-looking dish. For aesthetic purposes, I put banana slices on the finished product and add extra cinnamon on top. This is entirely unnecessary but if you want to be cute go off. 

Banana Mozzarella Toast

Makes one individual serving

Ready in 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Banana 
• ½ – ⅓ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 Large slice of bread or two small slices. I recommend sourdough or white bread.
• ½ tablespoon butter for buttering the bread
• ½ Teaspoon cinnamon 

1. Peel the banana and place on a microwave safe plate. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the banana. Pick up the shreds of cheese that land on the sides of the banana and sprinkle back over the top or simply push them closer to the banana. The cheese should be touching the banana or as close as possible to the banana on the plate. Set aside. 
2. Toast the bread to a golden brown, butter and set aside.
3. Microwave the banana for around 1 minute 20 seconds. Microwaves vary so keep watch to make sure you don’t burn the cheese.
4. Remove from the microwave, sprinkle with cinnamon and mash with a spoon until the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Scoop on toast and enjoy immediately.

Notes:

• As with any recipe calling for melted cheese, time is of the essence. It is important to have your toast ready before you microwave the banana. Once the banana and cheese are microwaved do take the time to get a cohesive mash, but no longer than a minute or two. You want to eat this toast nice and hot.
• I’ve used the fancy mozzarella that comes in water and the shredded variation. Both work but the shredded mozzarella melts better and is cheaper. I recommend Sunnyside Farms shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella. You can get it at FoodMaxx for $2.69.
• Bananas vary in size so keep that in mind and make adjustments with the amount of cheese and time in the microwave. 
• The darker the banana the sweeter it will be. I like my bananas black and rotting while my Grandma likes them green. Something in the middle is probably best for this recipe.
• I never measure the cinnamon when I make this. Feel free to sprinkle the cinnamon from the container and eye ball it. There is no real need to bust out the teaspoon.