Halloween is almost upon us again. At this time of year almost everybody loves to dress a “bit spooky” and have a party. Parties mean party food and although the “Thriller” dance and the zombie make- up are great, you will feel short changed if you have nothing decent to chow down on.
Go Veggie
Forget the meat eating though. Why not save a few pennies and forgo the flesh? It's better for your health as well as your wealth. Everybody has boring hot dogs so thrill everyone with your creative cooking with these easy to follow veggie Halloween recipes.
Bat Pizzas
These are home-made pizzas with a bat shaped design and veggie topping.
Ingredients
You will need for the dough:
- 1/2 Tbsp. dried yeast
- pinch sea salt
- pinch caster sugar
- 200g/7oz plain flour
- half cup of warm water
- dash of olive oil.
For the topping (add as much as you like depending on personal preference):
- Pizza sauce or tomato puree
- cheese
- chopped peppers (green, yellow or red)
- chopped mushrooms
- chopped onions
- mixed herbs
Method
- Mix the yeast, salt and sugar together with the flour.
- Add the olive oil and water to make stiff dough.
- Sprinkle a little flour on the table and knead the stiff dough mixture until it is springy.
- Grease a bowl with butter or oil and put dough inside
- Cover with a tea towel and put in a warm place for 30 minutes while dough rises.
- Roll out dough and place on a greased baking tray.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into bat shapes.
- Put in a pre-heated oven for a few minutes until just brown, not too hard as the topping has yet to be put on.
- Cover the base in tomato puree, mixed herbs, cheese, onion, peppers and mushrooms.
- Then place in the oven for a further 15 minutes until the topping is nicely browned.
Remember if you're feeling lazy you can always buy a pizza base rather than making it from scratch!
Stuffed intestines
There is little doubt that this is stomach-churning in appearance but it is a very tasty dish. Basically it is a pie with a creamy vegetable filling. Here is how to make this Halloween hearty dish which will serve enough for a whole load of people.
To make the pie crust:
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 3 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 2/3 oz. vegetable shortening or margarine
- 6 tbsp. water and finally blue and red food colouring for painting on veins! (This step comes later.)
Method
- Puree the chickpeas with a blender then using a large bowl
- Sift together the flour, salt, and cumin.
- Add the chickpeas, shortening, and water.
- Mix together until a dough forms.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 3-5 minutes.
- Cut dough into 4 pieces and use a rolling pin to roll each one into a long strip about 1/8″ thick. The intention is to create a long strip of dough that folds like intestines with which the filling goes inside and is then sealed.
Filling
Obviously you can choose whatever filling you wish, but this is a “green guts” version.
Green guts:
- 16 oz. bag of frozen peas
- 1/2 cup milk
- spices to taste.
Veggie filling:
- 2 cans of sliced black olives
- 1 medium white or red/purple onion
- 8oz of sweet corn
- 2 big yams, peeled and diced
- vegetable or olive oil
Method:
- In a big frying pan, lightly fry the onions in some oil.
- Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add some more oil and fry the yam cubes until you can almost stick a fork through them.
- Lower heat, and add the onions back to the pan with the sweet corn and olives.
- Take the dough strips one at a time, and lay out a thin line of veggie filling.
- Top with a coating of green guts filling.
- Then carefully bring the edges of the dough together and pinch them shut, sealing everything inside.
- Carefully lower your first filled intestine into a casserole dish.
- Roll it until the seams are hidden underneath, and start to snake the tube into an S shape like real intestines.
- Continue with the other 3 tubes, and connect them all together in the dish.
- Pinch and fold the seams in-between the tubes so you make them blend together, looking like one continuous tube.
- Using your food colouring and small brush, paint the “veins” on the dough. Pop in a 375 degree or gas mark 5 oven for about 30 minutes, and voila, you have a perfectly spooky Halloween dish!
A Mess of Eyeballs
For this pasta based dish you will need the following ingredients:
- Mozzarella cheese
- cherry tomatoes
- basil
- tagliatelli
Method
- Halve the cherry tomatoes and use a small, sharp knife or a teaspoon to remove the seeds.
- Cut the mozzarella balls in half.
- Place one half inside each tomato, trimming the edges if necessary to fit it in.
- Either cut the smallest circles you can from basil leaf or finely chop the leaves and scrunch into small circles. Place one at the centre of each mozzarella ball.
- Boil the pasta.
- Meanwhile, heat through the tomato sauce.
- When the tagliatelli is cooked, drain and stir through the pesto and any remaining basil, chopped finely.
- Divide between 4-6 serving bowls.
- Spoon over some tomato sauce
- Arrange the stuffed tomato eyeballs on top.
Miniature baked pumpkins
For these Halloween sweet treats you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 small pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon dark brown soft sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon butter
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4.
- Cut off the top of the pumpkin and scrape out seeds.
- Place the butter and brown sugar inside the pumpkin and sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Put the pumpkin top back on and place pumpkin in a roasting tray with a little water in the bottom.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until tender.
Brain Hemorrhage
This is perfect for a grown-up Halloween party; it is alcoholic in content and looks like a brain floating in your shot glass!
You will need:
- 20ml ¾ fl. oz. peach schnapps
- 20ml ¾ fl. oz.
- Irish cream liqueur
- 1 tsp. grenadine syrup
Method
- Pour the peach schnapps into a shot glass
- Top with the Irish cream liqueur (this will create a curdled effect)
- Then add the grenadine.
Rachael Ann Loxston - Freelance writer/journalist of travel features, film reviews, music articles, social commentary and historical articles. Based in the ...
