Homemade spaghetti and spooky “eyeballs”
This scary, saucy spaghetti and “eyeballs” recipe will be a fun and frightening addition to your Halloween! Incorporating homemade pasta, meatballs and a delicious tomato sauce, these tick all the boxes and are sure to delight children and adults alike. While we recommend making your own, if you’re short on time, feel free to buy ready-made pasta for a simplified (but still full of fun!) version.
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Servings
4 people
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Ingredients
Equipment
- Rolling pin
- Knife
- Mixing bowl
- Baking tray
- Large saucepan or casserole dish
- Piping nozzle or bottle cap
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Step 1: To make the pasta dough:
1. Form the flour into a heaped pile on a clean surface, then create a well in the centre.
2. Pour the beaten eggs into the centre of the well then fold in the flour, bringing it in from the edges. This will be a little messy at first but keep going until all of the egg has been worked in and a dough is formed.
3. Use a little extra flour to knead the dough until smooth, then wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for around 20 minutes.
Step 2: To make the meatballs:
1. While the pasta dough is resting in the fridge, prepare the meatballs.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°c (fan).
3. In the mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the beef mince, breadcrumbs, egg and seasoning.
4. Form the meatballs (approx. 40g each, see pictures for size estimate) and place onto a baking tray.
5. Cook the meatballs in the oven for 20-25 minutes until browned and cooked through.
6. Set aside on the counter (ensure these aren’t left out for more than two hours).
Step 3: To make the eyes:
1. Use a piping nozzle, bottle cap or cut freehand to create 24 discs of cheese, placing them on a plate.
2. Top each disc with a black olive slice to create an eyeball and leave in the fridge until assembly.
Step 4: Rolling the pasta:
1. Once the meatballs are cooked, it will be time to roll and cut the pasta.
2. Place a large saucepan or casserole dish filled with salted water on the stove and bring to a rolling boil.
3. Take the pasta dough from the fridge and cut into 4 equal pieces.
4. Lightly flour a clean work surface, then roll one of the pieces out—the aim is to get it as big and as thin as possible without the dough breaking or sticking. Extra dustings of flour throughout will likely be needed to achieve this.
5. Fold the rolled dough in half and then onto itself again before using a sharp knife to cut it into thin strips.
6. Pick up the strips and give them a good shake to unravel them, dusting with a little extra flour to prevent them sticking.
7. Set aside and repeat for the other 3 portions of dough.
8. Carefully drop the pasta into the pan of boiling salted water and cook for 5 minutes.
9. Before draining, reserve some of the pasta water in a cup/jug for the sauce.
10. Drain the pasta and set to one side.
Step 5: To make the sauce:
1. Return the saucepan/casserole dish to the stove over a medium heat.
2. Pour in the passata, tomato paste, garlic granules, dried herbs and seasoning.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook out the tomato paste for a few minutes.
4. Add in a few tablespoons of the reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce.
Step 6: Assembly:
1. Add the meatballs to the sauce to allow them to heat through then add the cooked pasta.
2. Once everything is heated through, arrange the meatballs on top of the pasta and place a disc of cheese and an olive slice on top of each one to create the eyeballs.
3. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve hot.
