Today is Sweden’s National Holiday (yay, Sweden!) and in honor of that, I thought I’d post a very Swedish recipe: banana curry pizza (we made one of these last night – yum!).

In Sweden, we like to throw everything we can get our hands on on a piece of pizza dough (a slight exaggeration). While you certainly can get a Margherita and other traditional pizzas, some of the other common toppings make people from other countries do a double take. Here are some examples from the menu at my brother’s favorite pizza place (note: kebab in Sweden is the equivalent of Schwarma meat here):

“Love You” – tomato sauce, cheese, filet of pork, ham, mushrooms, bacon, shrimp, béarnaise sauce

“Kebabpizza” – Tomato sauce, cheese, schwarma meat, iceberg lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, pepperoncini, kebab sauce (a yogurt-based spicy sauce)

“Castello” – Pineapple, mushrooms, onion, peppers, pepperoncini, salami, gorgonzola, camembert, feta cheese

“Mexico Special” – Tomato sauce, cheese, ground beef, bacon, garlic, egg, onion, jalapeno, taco spices

I’ve had the Kebabpizza and it is awesome – the sauce is to die for!

And now, on to the banana curry pizza. You might recoil in horror when you first see this recipe, but if you like curry and the mix of sweet and salt, give it a shot. It’s wildly popular in Sweden (you’ll find it under “Ordinary or Classic Pizzas” on the menus), and even my American husband liked it once he mustered up the courage to try it.

This pizza is traditionally made with smoked ham, and if you want to try it with that, buy it thinly sliced at the deli (the Black Forest ham they sell at Whole Foods is one that is very close in flavor to what they use in Sweden) and then cut it into small squares.

Since we prefer to not eat meat, we make it without, but you really do need that smoky flavor to make it taste just like it does in Sweden, and I have found that smoked cheese is a great substitute. Any smoked cheese will do, I get whatever I happen to find at the store that day.

Print Banana Curry Pizza Yield: 2 pizzas Ingredients 2 individual-sized pizza crusts (make them yourself or buy them ready made)

Pizza sauce (we like Enrico’s organic pizza sauce )

) 2 ripe bananas

Curry powder

Smoked cheese, grated

Other cheese, grated (any kind you like, we usually use a mozzarella / cheddar mix) Instructions Put your pizza dough on a baking sheet. Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce all over the dough.

Cut the bananas in thin slices and distribute evenly over the pizza. Sprinkle them with curry powder, as much as you like (I use a lot, at least 2 tbsp per pizza).

Cover with grated cheese, keep the proportions around 20% smoked cheese and 80% other. If you use too much smoked cheese, the flavor gets too overpowering.

Place the pizzas in the oven and bake according to the directions for the dough you are using. Notes VARIATIONS Traditional Swedish: Add smoked ham and omit the smoked cheese. Vegetarian: Omit the ham. Vegan: Omit the ham and use a vegan cheese (I have yet to find one I like, so I can’t make any recommendations here, unfortunately). To get the smoky flavor, add a little bit of smoked olive oil to the pizza sauce. 3.1 https://andmykitchensink.com/banana-curry-pizza-a-swedish-favorite/ Recipe and all images Copyright Cattie Coyle

For more pizza, also see my Healthy Mexican-inspired vegan / vegetarian pizza recipe