Banana Wellingtons for Four
Recipe by Dolores Casella, from her upcoming downloadable cookbook, "A World of Recipes".
About Dolores Casella:
Dolores Casella is the author of A World of Breads, A World of Baking, The New Book of Breads and The Complete Vegetable Cookbook. Her first book, A World of Breads was published in 1966 by David White Company in New York.
Dolores says, "I didn't know how to boil an egg when I first married. My first Thanksgiving turkey weighed more than I did at the time and I cried when it rolled across the kitchen floor after my attempt to remove it from the oven."
Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Ms Casella has published the four cookbooks, numerous articles and recipes for magazines (Gourmet, etc.) and had a weekly cooking column for a local newspaper for several years. She was the owner of a fine dining restaurant in Idaho prior to her retirement in April 2000. She continues to teach cooking classes, volunteers as a cook for a homeless men's shelter and continues to write. She is in the process of compiling another book. She is mother to 4 (grown) children (although one died in 1979), four grandchildren (one died in 1991, hence three) four cats and three dogs.
Comments by Diana Baker Woodall-Diana's Desserts
"I am truly honored that Dolores Casella shared this recipe for "Banana Wellingtons" with me to place on my website. My first bread baking book I bought was her "World of Breads" cookbook in 1970, and it has always been my favorite. I hope by sharing this recipe with you, you may go out and find one of her cookbooks, and gain a great deal of knowledge and great recipes that are easy to follow and wonderful to make"...........Diana Baker Woodall, November 2002
Banana Wellingtons for Four:
Ingredients:
For the Wellingtons:
8 to 12 sheets of filo dough
4 bananas (ripe, but not too ripe)
3 cups chocolate chips, semisweet or white
1 1/2 cups salted pecans, chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
For Topping:
Whipped cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
Instructions:
Note: Have all ingredients ready prior to removing the filo from the package.
Take two or three stacked sheets of filo dough and brush generously with melted butter. Place one banana on the dough, sprinkle with a handful of chocolate chips and about a 1/2 handful of pecans. Wrap the banana, chocolate and pecans up in a triangular shape and again, brush banana wellingtons generously with melted butter. Place on well greased pan and bake in a 400 degree F oven for about 15-20 minutes. Check often, you do not want to burn the filo! The filo should be a golden brown when removed.
Let cool for 5 or 10 minutes and then drizzle with melted chocolate and put a nice dollop of whipped cream on top.
Tips:
1) If you are familiar working with filo dough (phyllo, fillo, filo) then you know that once the package is opened, anything left over needs to be wrapped immediately, and very securely so that air does not enter the dough. Filo is a very thin middle eastern pastry that dries up very quickly!
2) You can freeze the uncooked wellingtons on a greased pan covered with saran wrap or other plastic wrap, in the freezer so that you can simply pop them in the oven after dinner too. Do not stack the wellingtons as they will not come apart graciously.
3) Again, it's a very simple dish to make. But be sure to wrap leftover filo dough right away. It takes only minutes to dry out and crumble.
Makes 4 servings.
Recipe by: Dolores Casella