Halloween Party Food

Our answer

Halloween parties can be a bit fraught with trying to get children fed before trick or treating and maybe adults afterwards, so something quick, easy and filling usually fits the bill. Black spaghetti, or squid ink pasta, is a suitably ghoulish ingredient for the occasion. Nigella uses this pasta in a recipe called Witches' Hair (see related recipe link) which is black spaghetti simply dressed with a garlic and butter sauce. This would suit children and adults. For more adventurous taste buds we suggest the slightly more sophisticated Back-To-Black Spaghetti from Nigellissima (p28). Another black coloured dish worth considering is the Squink Risotto from Kitchen (p361). If your children really baulk at black spaghetti then plain pasta dressed with pesto is a simple option. Try Nigella's pesto recipe from Pasta Alla Genovese from Kitchen (p41).

If you would like to serve some snacks then perhaps some home-made cheese biscuits cut into appropriate shapes with halloween cutters. Try the Cheesy Feet from Feast (p253) with some small skull-shaped or ghost shaped cutters. The biscuits can be made a couple of days ahead and stored in an airtight container. The chilli-spiked Dragon Chicken wings from Kitchen (p416) would be a spicy option and you can marinate the wings the day bedfore and just transfer them to a baking sheet and pop them in an oven when you need them.

After trick or treating a dessert may not be required for children but Nigella's Ghoul-Graveyard Cake or Blood Clot jellies from Feast (p353 and p355) could feed all generations and the Devil's Food Cake from Kitchen (p253) is a popular crowd-pleaser.