Description
These spooky pasta eyeballs will have everyone at your Halloween party doing a double-take before diving in for seconds. It’s creepy, it’s delicious, and it’s guaranteed to be the star of your spooky spread!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb (450g) tricolor rotini pasta
- 8 oz (225g) fresh mozzarella pearls
- 1 cup (150g) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium orange bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium cucumber, seeded and diced
- ½ cup (75g) black olives, sliced (plus extra for decorating eyeballs)
- ¼ cup (40g) red onion, finely diced
- ½ cup (15g) fresh parsley, chopped
- 24 sliced black olives for eyeball pupils
- 1 small tube red gel food coloring
- ⅓ cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons (45ml) red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water, and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil to prevent sticking.
- Pat mozzarella pearls completely dry with paper towels. Place a slice of black olive on each pearl to create pupils. Use a toothpick to add red gel food coloring “bloodshot” lines if desired.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and honey to make the dressing.
- In a large bowl, combine pasta with bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, sliced olives, red onion, and most of the parsley.
- Pour three-quarters of the dressing over the salad and toss gently. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Just before serving, carefully fold in the prepared eyeballs. Drizzle with remaining dressing and sprinkle with reserved parsley.
- For maximum effect, arrange extra eyeballs prominently on top and serve in a hollowed-out pumpkin “bowl” surrounded by Halloween decorations.