5 spine-tinglingly tasty savoury Halloween recipes

Halloween doesn't just have to mean sweets and cakes; these savoury recipes are perfect for All Hallows Eve, and will make use of your leftover pumpkins, too. 

Pumpkin Fondue:

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Pumpkin
• 30g Butter
• 30g Plain Flour
• 1 clove Garlic
• 100ml White Wine
• 150ml Cream
• 250g grated Emmental Cheese
• 100g grated Mature Cheddar/Blue Cheese (optional)
• 1 tbsp Black Pepper
• Bread Croutons, chopped Veg, shredded Ham - to dip

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
• Cut the top off the pumpkin and hollow out the seeds.
• Roast in the oven whole for 35 minutes. While the cauldron is roasting, finely chop the garlic and fry in the bottom of a large pan in the butter.
• Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the white wine and stir until smooth.
• Add the double cream and cheeses and season with black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and stir until the cheese has melted and the mix is gooey and stringy.
• When the pumpkin is cooked, scrape some flesh from the edges - be careful to leave a good thick wall.
• Add the scraped pumpkin to the cheese.
• Serve the cheese inside the roasted pumpkin, with your choice of dippers on the side

Pumpkin Ricotta Lasagne

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Ricotta Mixture

• ¼ c. fresh sage leaves, chopped, plus more whole leaves for garnish
• 2 tsp. butter
• 15 oz. ricotta
• 10 oz. canned pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Béchamel Sauce aka White Sauce

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 4 tbsp. gluten-free flour
• 2 ½ c. milk, warmed
• ¼ t. ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

For the lasagne

1 box – 8 sheets Explore Cuisine Green Lentil Lasagne (no boil)

1 ¼ lb. mozzarella, shredded

Method:

1. Fry sage in butter until crisp. Remove to paper towel. Then combine all pumpkin ricotta ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. To make the Béchamel Sauce: Spread ½ c. of white sauce over the bottom of a greased 8" square (2 qt.) baking dish. Place 2 sheets of no-boil lasagne noodles over the sauce in a single layer.
3. Top lasagne noodles with a third of the ricotta mixture. Layer with a quarter of the mozzarella. Then top with a third of the remaining of the white sauce. Top sauce with 2 more sheets of lasagne noodles to build the second and third layers the same way.
4. For the top layer, place last two sheets of lasagne over the white sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella.
5. Bake at 375°F for 35 minutes, covered with foil. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes until the lasagne is bubbling hot and the top is browning. Remove from oven and let sit at least 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with fried whole sage leaves.

Recipe: Explore Cuisine

Mummified Sausage Rolls

Ingredients:

• 454g Pork Sausages
• 1 sheet Puff Pastry
• 2 tbsp Caramelised Onion Chutney
• 2 of either Peas/Sweetcorn/Olives
• 1 Egg

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
• Remove skin from the sausages and discard so just left with the meat.
• On a large piece of cling film spread the sausage meat into a long sheet and flatten to 14cm width.
• Spoon a thin column of the chutney along the middle of the sausage meat.
• Seal the chutney in by bringing the sausage meat around on both sides using the cling film and press the meat together.
• Freeze the sausage log for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to work with.
• Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut into 1cm thick strips.
• Lay the strips on a piece of baking parchment unevenly.
• Place the sausage meat log onto the pastry strips.
• Wrap the strips roughly around the sausage meat from top to bottom leaving a 4cm gap half the way down for the face.
• Cut the log into 8 pieces.
• Stud the two “eyes” into the face gap.
• Put the sausage roll onto a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg.
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Recipe: Aldi

Pumpkin Soup with Chilli and Crème Fraiche

Ingredients:

• 6 pint Pyrex bowl
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 mild red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1kg pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and deseeded
• 650 ml hot vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp. crème fraiche, plus more to serve

Method:

1. Place the butter, onions, garlic, chillies and cumin in a large Pyrex® bowl, cover with pierced cling film. Place on the base of the oven and cook in the Panasonic Combination Microwave NN-CS894 on medium microwave for 5 mins or until soft.
2. Cut the squash into small cubes then add to the onion mix. Add the hot stock, cover and cook on high microwave for 20 mins or until the squash is soft.
3. Season with salt and pepper, add the crème fraiche. Allow to cool before blitzing in the blender. Return to the microwave and heat on high microwave for 3 mins before serving.
4. Serve the soup in bowls with swirls of crème fraiche and a scattering of fresh chopped chillies.

For more information and recipes to ensure your family are experiencing fresh using the Panasonic small kitchen appliance range, please visit: theideaskitchen.co.uk

Flipper Dippers with Halloween Sweet Potato Fries & Ghoulish Green dip

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 6 Young’s Flipper Dippers

For the Halloween Sweet Potato Fries

• 2 sweet potatoes – washed and cut into rounds
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Sea salt

For the Ghoulish Green Dip

• 50g frozen peas
• 50g young leaf spinach, washed
• 70g light soft cheese
• ½ tbsp chopped fresh mint, washed
•  Salt (optional) and ground black pepper

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6
2. For the Fries – use mini cutters or hand carve stars and cut Halloween faces into the centre of the sweet potato slices. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking parchment, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes
3. Cook the Flipper Dippers according to instructions on pack
4. For the Dip - cook the peas in boiling water for two minutes, drain and run under cold water, drain again.
5. Place the spinach leaves in a colander and pour boiling water over the leaves until they are wilted. Run under cold water and squeeze out the excess water
6. Put the spinach in a food processor with the peas, soft cheese and mint and blend until smooth (or optional to mash). Season to taste and spoon into a serving bowl.