Halloween is all about food. So we've picked out some spooktacular recipes for you to make.
Fun recipes
Mackerel mummies
Mackerel 'mummies' are simply flaked smoked mackerel wrapped in strips of tortilla wrap, briefly dry-fried to stiffen up the 'bandages' and give an authentic aged look. (The idea would work with chicken or sausages, too.)
A very fun starter (or at least a talking point), and they only take about five minutes to make.
Green slime eyeball pasta with fiery hell sauce
Wow, you certainly wouldn’t find that on a restaurant menu. Chef Rob Cottam goes all out with squidgy eyeballs (mini mozzarella balls shoved inside half a cherry tomato, with a pinch of basil in the middle for a pupil) nestled on a bed of gloopy red sauce and green pasta.
A bloody pasta bake
Spook-up your pasta bake with blood-stained beetroot and bits of smoked ham this Halloween. Nothing fancy goes into this recipe – just onions, butter, garlic, milk, a little cream, cheese, ham and bloodied beetroot – but it sure does deliver on both flavour and appearance.
Halloween cookies
Great fun to make with little ’uns, and also a possible trick-or-treat goodie. The biscuit is chocolate (and gluten free) and we suggest you cut your cookies into pumpkin, ghost and bat shapes, then use coloured icing to decorate them.
For afters: chocolate apples
Great for Halloween or bonfire night. Pink Lady apples on sticks, drizzled prettily with white & dark chocolate – like toffee apples but easier. Good for kids to help with and tuck into, great for a party. Very simple, very pretty. You could also decorate them with white chocolate, if you prefer.
More mature choices
Roast pumpkin soup with blue cheese
Nothing says Halloween like the colour orange. Jose Pizarro’s roast pumpkin soup is flavoured with garlic and rosemary, and then topped with toasted bread slathered in strong blue cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil before serving, and make sure you warm your bowls first.
Persian pasta with spiced chickpeas and pistachios
Again, we chose this for its orangeness – a natural orange mind, not a neon one. Heston Blumenthal protégé Patrick Drake makes his pasta Persian by adding chickpeas, garlic, tomatoes, nuts (both almonds and pistachios) and aromatic spices such as cinnamon, cumin and turmeric.
Pumpkin and pecan cake
Use up any pumpkin innards you have after carving jack o'lanterns with your children to make this rich pumpkin cake. It also contains grated apple and is topped off with simple but delicious cream cheese icing, on which rests a dozen pecan nut halves.
Halloween beetroot pie
Oh the wonders of beetroot... here it's used in a sweet pie, mixed with sugar and spice to make a Halloween centrepiece. All you'll need for this recipe is shortcrust pastry, vacuum-packed beetroot, eggs, sugar, mixed spice, allspice, ginger and a little double cream. Serve with crème fraiche.
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