Halloween party food

Here are a few ideas for some savoury Halloween party fare.

Bloody Eyeball Soup

1. Take some cherry tomatoes, cut in half and scoop out the seeds
2. Place a mozzarella pearl into each shell then make a small incision
3. Take a basil leaf and roll into a tight cigar shape
4. cut a slice of the basil leaf and press into the incision in the mozzarella
5. Warm up some tomato soup, and serve with two 'eyeballs' floating on top

Witches Fingers

1. Make a batch of the soft pretzel recipe I used here. 
2. Instead of forming them into the common pretzel shape, form them into small sausages, slightly longer then your longest finger
3. Boil in water and bicarbonate of soda, then place on a baking tray.
4. Using a knife, make some knuckle indentations at the one third and two third mark
5. pinch the 'fingers' a little above and below each knuckle to give that gnarly and bony finger effect. 
6. Brush with an egg wash, and sprinkle with rock salt if you like
7. Press an almond into the end to be the fingernail
8. Bake in a hot oven, Gas 8/230c/450f for 10 minutes or until golden brown

Slimy Worms in a Bun

1. Take a packet of cold hot dogs.
2. Cut length ways, then cut each length again so you have 4 long strips
3. Drop into boiling salted water for about 3 mins
4. Drain the place into a bowl and coat generously with barbecue sauce
5. Serve the 'slimy worms' in a nice kaiser roll or any roll of your choice.

Gravestone Wedges

1. Cut cleaned sweet potatoes into wedges leaving the skin on
2. drizzle over some olive oil
3. Sprinkle in some salt, cumin, paprika and black pepper (or whatever mix of spices you prefer)
4. Rub the oil and spice mix over the edges ensuring that they are all coated
5. lay them out on a baking tray and cook at 200C/gas 7 for 40 mins, or longer if needed to make them crispy

Mini Mummy pizzas 

1. Take one packet of English Muffins and cut each muffin in half. These will form the base of your mini pizzas
2. Smooth a layer of tomato purée over the top of each muffin
3. Take some slices of mature cheddar and cut into strips about 2cm wide
4. Lay them over the muffin pizzas to look like bandages
5. Cut two slices from a pepperoni (or an olive for vegetarian version) and place as eyes
6. Bake in an oven at Gas 5/190c/375f for about 10 mins or until the cheese is bubbling and golden

 Mummy Sausages

1. Take one packet of pork chipolata sausages
2. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry, and using a pastry wheel cut into thin strips about 1cm wide
3. Lightly wet one side of the pastry to help it stick
4. Wrap each sausage in one or two strips of pastry leaving a small space about two thirds up for eyes
5. Bake in the oven at Gas 6/200c/400f for 15 to 17 mins
6. Once cooked, place on a cooling rack then put two small dots of mustard for eyes

Mini Pepperami Pizza

Mini Pepperami Pizza are perfect finger food for a festive soiree, or in this case, an office fuddle.

To save time, you can make the dough the night before and let it prove overnight in the fridge. The cool of the fridge will retard the dough, and it will prove slowly. This is a good thing, as it is a known fact that the slower prove you give your bread mixtures, the better the flavour.

Next day, divide your dough, press out your mini pizzas and then top with tomato sauce, cheese and any other desired topping. I wanted to create mini pizzas that looked like my favourite pepperoni, but I obviously couldn't use the full size slices of pepperoni which are almost as big as the pizzas, so instead, I used little slices of Pepperami. You can obviously leave this off for a vegetarian version.

Ingredients (dough):

• 350g strong white flour (bread flour)
• 7g instant or fast action yeast
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (extra virgin if you have it)
• 225ml of water (or you can use milk for a softer base)
• 1 tsp sugar (optional)

Method:

1. Warm your milk/water in a until it is just warm, but not hot as this will help wake up the yeast. 
2. Pour this into your mixing bowl and add in the yeast, and the sugar if you are using it. This will feed the yeast and help it get a good rise, but it isn't essential. 
3. If you want, you can leave the mixture for a few minutes to give the yeast time to wake but again, it isn't essential, but your yeast will love you for it.
4. Next add in the olive oil, and after a quick stir, add the flour. 
5. The mixture should form together into a nice ball of dough.
6. Place the ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for about 8 minutes
7. By now, it should be nice and smooth and stretchy.
8. Place it back in the bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove and double in size. You can do this at room temperature, in which case it should only take an hour or so. Alternatively, you can do the mixing in advance, and leave it in the bowl covered in clingfilm in the fridge for about 12 hours, even 24 if necessary, but not much longer. 
9. Once the proving is over, divide the dough into 16 small balls.
10. Dust a couple of baking tray with some cornmeal (if you have it - if not use flour)
11. Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 6 / 200°C / 400°F
12. Using the pads of your thumbs, press each dough ball out into your fingers to form a rough circle. You don't need to be too fussy about the shape. After all, it is about the flavour as much as about appearance. 
13. Spread a teaspoon of tomato puree onto each pizza, then cover with cheese (a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella is great for pizzas).
14. Sprinkle with a little mixed herbs if you feel that way inclined. 
15. Now you can top with your slices of pepperami.
16. Bake for 10-12 minutes before transferring straight to your plate. If serving later, place on a cooling rack and place in an airtight container only after they are fully cooled or you will have soggy base. They will keep in the fridge for no more than two days. After that, the dough may start to go soggy