Delicious spooky pasta for Halloween. Made with easy mushroom skulls, squid ink spaghetti, and easy bacon and mushroom pasta sauce. This Halloween pasta will be loved by kids and adults alike.
How cute are these mushroom skulls! They certainly make an impression and easily create a spooky pasta dish.
I love how this recipe will be a hit with adults and kids. The squid ink spaghetti makes for a rather sexy looking Halloween pasta dish, that would easily grace the table at an adult Halloween dinner party.
As far as the kids go it's a basic mushroom and bacon pasta sauce with wide taste appeal. In fact, this is my go to creamy bacon sauce. A little secret, until now I have never written it down. It was a case of splosh, throw, taste, etc. Plus the mushrooms were simply sliced, not carved into spooky mushroom skulls.
Sara xxx
What's in this post
Ingredients
- White Wine: Dry white wine, usually the same one I am drinking while I cook. The alcohol will mostly cook off, but if you need to swap it out due to dietary requirements use water, a light chicken or vegetable stock.
- Mushrooms: Button mushrooms, small in size, and try to find ones that are a little more oval than round in shape.
- Parmesan: Is my cheese of choice, but any hard and sharp cheese can be substituted. A sharp tasting cheese adds a delicious umpf to the creamy pasta sauce.
- Bacon: I use lean short cut bacon (Canadian bacon) as the sauce is already quite rich due to the cream and cheese. Bacon rashers can be used, but do trim and remove any large sections of bacon fat before slicing.
- Thyme: Fresh time for a sprinkle of freshness of the finished dish. You could also use fresh parsley.
- Squid Ink Spaghetti: The black colour of squid ink pasta sets the tone for the spooky pasta. you could use normal spaghetti, but the final look of dish won't be as dynamic, although it will be just as delicious. Dark brown wholemeal or spinach spaghetti would work well too.
- Salt & Black Pepper: For seasoning before serving. Make sure to taste the sauce before serving and season if needed. I am sure you will add pepper, but salt may not be needed if the bacon is on the salty side and you have used salted butter.
- Olive Oil: Used with the butter for cooking.
- Cream: Full cream thickened cream. Yes, you can use low fat cream suitable for cooking in its place.
- Onion: Small brown or yellow onion. Avoid using Spanish/red onion due to the colour.
- Garlic: Substitute a teaspoon of crushed garlic from a jar if you prefer instead of using cloves.
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted, whatever you have on hand. If using salted butter make sure to taste the sauce at the end before seasoning.
Making Mushroom Skulls
Making mushroom skulls is pretty simple, but there are a couple of tricks I want to share. If you are making quite a few it can be time consuming. I suggest roping in an extra set of hands to help you gouge eyes and carve facial features. As they say, many hands make light work.
Materials
- Mushrooms: Choose mushrooms that are slightly oval, not completely round. Make sure that they also have a nice portion of their stipe (mycologist speak for stem) showing.
- Drinking Straw: You will need a sturdy straw. Unfortunately paper won't do, you will need something a little more robust like bamboo, metal, or even dreaded plastic. Plus a straw that doesn't have a thick edge to it as you will be using the straw to cut out the eye sockets.
- Skewer: The skewer is used to clear the straw from pieces of mushroom. Plus make the nose and teeth markings.
- Small Sharp Knife: To trim the ends of the stipe (mushroom stem), and to cut the mushrooms in half.
- Cutting Board: To work on.
Carving Mushroom Skulls
Important Note: You will be making two skulls from one mushroom.
- Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth, removing any bits of growing material/dirt.
- Trim the end of the stipe (mushroom stem) with the knife. Remove as little as possible, as the stipe will become teeth.
- Look at the mushroom for its best angle, that when cut in half will give you the best skull shape from the mushroom. Do not cut them in half yet!
- On one side of the mushroom use the straw to cut out two eye sockets. Clean out the straw between with the skewer. Turn the mushroom around and cut out two more eye sockect directly oppostie the ones just cut.
Note: Through trial and error I have found that cutting the eye sockets out before cutting the mushroom in half to form two skulls is the best way to go. If you cut the mushroom in half first, there is a high risk of the mushroom splitting when cutting out the eye sockets with the straw. - Use the skewer to remove any pieces of mushroom left in the eye socket.
- Cut the mushroom in half to form two mushroom skulls.
- Using the tip of the skewer draw two nose holes on the skull.
- Again using the tip of the skewer draw lines down the stipe to create "teeth". It is only a little detail, but makes all the difference.
- And there you go, mushroom skulls for your spooky pasta.
Recipe Instructions
Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.
Prepare mushroom skulls as per instructions above.
Place a large pot of water with a generous sprinkle of salt on the stove ready to bring to a boil.
In a large non-stick frying pan melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. When the butter is foaming place mushrooms in the pan cut side down, skull faces up. Do not crowd the pan as the mushrooms will stew and not brown. Cook mushrooms in two batches if needed.
Cook mushrooms until browned and caramelised on their undersides.
Flip mushrooms over and cook for no more than a minute. Remove from the frying pan, place on a plate, and set aside.
Using the same frying pan the mushrooms were cooked in (don't clean it after cooking the mushrooms), add the extra ½ tablespoon of butter, and melt.
Add onions to the pan and cook over medium low heat until soft and translucent. Do not brown the mushrooms. This will take at least 5 minutes over medium low heat.
Once the onions are soft and translucent add bacon to the pan and cook a further 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic and white wine to the pan and continue cooking.
Continue cooking and stirring the bacon mixture until the wine has reduced by half. The mixture will thicken and take on a cloudy saucy appearance.
At this point start bringing the pot of well salted water to a boil while you finish the sauce.
Then add cream to the pan and continue to cook for another few minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and thickens.
Reserve a couple of pinches of parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the finished dish. Then add the rest of the parmesan to the bacon mixture. Stir continuously until the cheese has melted through the bacon mixture.
Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed. Remove creamy bacon sauce from the heat and set aside until the pasta is cooked.
As soon as the pot of water comes to a boil drop the squid ink spaghetti in. Cook as per packet instructions, and the pasta is al dente. Be careful not to overcook the pasta as it will continue to cook when added to the sauce.
Reserve some of the pasta cooking water. I dip a coffee cup into the pot and remove some water that way, usually a cup's worth.
Drain the spaghetti. Place the pan with the sauce back on medium low heat, and add the spaghetti.
Using tongs toss the spaghetti through the sauce. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
Add skull mushrooms to the pasta and gently toss them through. Serve spooky pasta immediately with a sprinkle of fresh thyme and the reserved parmesan cheese.
More Halloween Recipes
Do check out our Halloween recipes for more spooky scary food. Below are a few of my personal favourites.
- Seriously cute Mummy Hotdogs
- Shelly you're kidding! Frankenstein Guacamole
- Angry Monster Burgers
Sara's Top Tips
Yes, the creamy bacon sauce can be made the day before. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. When you are ready to make the final dish place the pre-made sauce in a large frying pan and warm it gently.
Stir through a few tablespoons of reserved pasta water to the sauce, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Reduce the heat, add the spaghetti and continue on with the recipe as instructed.
Yes, make them as per the recipe and then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Warm them on high in the microwave for 30 - 50 seconds, or covered in the oven for a few minutes. Then add them to the spooky pasta as per the recipe.
There are a couple of options. You could use turkey bacon or venison bacon for something that resembles bacon but isn't. Shredded cooked chicken breast is a great protein alternative. Some finely sliced shitake mushrooms to turn it into a creamy mushroom sauce with an umami kick.
Printable Recipe
Spooky Pasta
Ingredients
- 400 grams (14 oz) squid ink spaghetti
- 16 button mushrooms
- 2 ½ tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 brown onion (small) | finely diced
- 100 grams bacon | short cut/Canadian bacon
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 125 mls (½ cup) dry white wine
- 125 mls (½ cup) thickened cream
- 85 grams (3 oz) parmesan cheese | finely grated
- ½ bunch fresh thyme | leaves removed from woody stems
Instructions
- Prepare mushroom skulls as per instructions in the notes section below.
- Place a large pot of water with a generous sprinkle of salt on the stove ready to bring to a boil.
- In a large non-stick frying pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter with olive oil over medium heat.
- When the butter is foaming place mushrooms in the pan cut side down, skull faces up.Do not crowd the pan as the mushrooms will stew and not brown. Cook mushrooms in two batches if needed.
- Cook mushrooms until browned and caramelised on their undersides.Flip mushrooms over and cook for no more than a minute. Remove from the frying pan, place on a plate, and set aside.
- Using the same frying pan the mushrooms were cooked in (don't clean it after cooking the mushrooms), add the remaining ½ tablespoon of butter, and melt.
- Add onions to the pan and cook over medium low heat until soft and translucent. Do not brown the mushrooms. This will take at least 5 minutes over medium low heat.
- Once the onions are soft and translucent add bacon to the pan and cook a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add garlic and white wine to the pan and continue cooking.
- Continue cooking and stirring the bacon mixture until the wine has reduced by half. The mixture will thicken and take on a cloudy saucy appearance.
- At this point start bringing the pot of well salted water to a boil while you finish the sauce.
- Then add cream to the pan and continue to cook for another few minutes until the sauce reduces slightly and thickens.
- Reserve a couple of pinches of parmesan cheese to sprinkle over the finished dish. Then add the rest of the parmesan to the bacon mixture. Stir continuously until the cheese has melted through the bacon mixture.
- Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed. Remove creamy bacon sauce from the heat and set aside until the pasta is cooked.
- As soon as the pot of water comes to a boil drop the squid ink spaghetti in. Cook as per packet instructions, and the pasta is al dente. Be careful not to over cook the pasta as it will continue to cook when added to the sauce.
- Drain the spaghetti. Place the pan with the sauce back on low medium heat, and add the spaghetti.
- Using tongs toss the spaghetti through the sauce. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
- Add skull mushrooms to the pasta and gently toss them through.
- Serve spooky pasta immediately with a sprinkle of fresh thyme and the reserved parmesan cheese.
Oven Temperatures
All oven temperatures are fan forced.
Measurement Notes
All measurements are Australian metric standard. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified. 1 teaspoon = 5ml / 1 tablespoon = 20mls / 1 cup = 250ml /4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
Recipe Notes
- Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth, removing any bits of growing material/dirt.
- Trim the end of the stipe (mushroom stem) with the knife. Remove as little as possible, as the stipe will become teeth.
- Look at the mushroom for its best angle, which when cut in half will give you the best skull shape from the mushroom. Do not cut them in half yet!
- On one side of the mushroom use the straw to cut out two eye sockets. Clean out the straw between with the skewer. Turn the mushroom around and cut out two more eye sockets directly opposite the ones just cut.
- Use the skewer to remove any pieces of mushroom left in the eye socket.
- Cut the mushroom in half to form two mushroom skulls.
- Using the tip of the skewer draw two nose holes on the skull.
- Again using the tip of the skewer draw lines down the stipe to create "teeth". It is only a little detail but makes all the difference.
- And there you go, mushroom skulls for your spooky pasta.
- 1 teaspoon equals 5ml
- 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml (Nth America, NZ & UK use 15ml tablespoons)
- 1 cup equals 250ml (Nth America use 237ml)
- 4 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon
- I use the below unless specified in my recipes.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
The recipe's nutritional information is an approximation based on an online calculator. It is meant solely for reference purposes. If you're looking for precise details, be sure to double-check with your own research.
J Hardman
Do you have any suggestions for a dairy-free option? Would a tomato sauce work for this dish?
Sara McCleary
Hi J
You could use the concept of the mushrooms and then add them to your favourite dairy-free sauce and pasta. Mushroom, tomato and bacon sounds okay to me 🙂
Cheers, Sara