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Tuesday 27th October 2020.

October 27, 2020

It is Tuesday and on the breakfast show, courtesy of US Meat we connect up with our Feisty Foods Sara in Canada. Today we are looking at some great recipes for Halloween…

Eyeball meatballs with spaghetti and marinara sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. ground beef (or half ground pork or ground veal, if desired)

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/4 c. Panko bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1 large egg, beaten

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. spaghetti

1 1/2 c. marinara, warmed

Mini Mozzarella balls, cut into rounds

Black olives, sliced crosswise into rounds

  1. Preheat oven to 400° and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment.
  2. In a large bowl, add beef, onion, Panko, garlic, parsley, and egg. Season generously with salt and pepper. Mix ingredients together with a rubber spatula or your hands until well combined, then shape into 1” balls. Place onto baking sheet.
  3. Bake until meatballs for 13 minutes, then to each meatball, add a piece of cheese and olive to create “eyeballs.” Bake until cheese is melty, 2 minutes more.
  4. Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. Drain and transfer to platter.
  5. Pour warm marinara sauce over spaghetti, then scatter with meatballs.

Note:  For added flavour, you can use half beef, and half ground pork or veal, if available.

If you prefer to make a Bolognese sauce instead of using Marinara, here is my recipe:

Bolognese sauce

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef

½ medium onion, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup red wine

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Heinz Ketchup

1 tsp tomato paste

5 basil leaves, chopped, more for garnish

Bottle of good marinara sauce, plus ¼ bottle more

Crushed red chilis

Kosher salt

Fresh black pepper

Instructions:

  1. Heat olive oil over med/high heat and cook onions and garlic until translucent. Add ground beef and cook until brown and there are no chunks or big pieces
  2. Drain fat using pot lid or colander
  3. Add in red wine, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and tomato paste. Stir well, turn down the heat to low and let simmer about 25-30 minutes.

       **Make meatballs as listed above, if adding meatballs**

  1. Add salt, pepper, crushed red chili peppers and fresh basil, taste and adjust seasoning
  2. Meanwhile cook pasta in salted water, per package instructions
  3. Strain pasta, top with meat sauce and scary meatballs, and or garnish with fresh basil

Mummy or Spider Web cake

INGREDIENTS

 Chocolate or Devil’s Food Box cake and the ingredients required.

 Filling and Frosting

1 ½ cups heavy cream

¾ cup Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted

8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 tsp espresso powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 pinch fine salt

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Spider Web or Mummy Decoration

2 cups mini marshmallows (about 4 oz)

Cooking spray

Candy/plastic spider or candy eyes, for decorating

Make Chocolate or Devil’s Food cake according to the instructions on the box and let cool.  While cooling start the frosting.

Filling and Frosting

  1. Heat the cream in a double boiler over low heat, whisking occasionally, until it begins to steam. Whisk in the cocoa powder, chocolate, espresso powder, vanilla and salt until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the butter until melted. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated. Let the frosting cool completely.
  2. To assemble: Put 1 cake, bottom-side up, on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread about 1 cup of the frosting over the top but not all the way down the side. Top with the other cake, bottom-side up, and frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.

Spider Web or Mummy Decoration

  1. Microwave the marshmallows in a microwave-safe medium bowl until they start to grow in size and are soft enough to stir, about 1 minute. Let sit a few minutes until cool enough to touch. Spray your hands with cooking spray. For a spider web, pick up a tablespoon-sized blob of the melted marshmallow and stretch it over and around the cake; repeat so that the strings of marshmallow crisscross one another in many directions, and continue until you have what looks like a spider web. For a mummy, stretch the marshmallow so that all the strings on the top of the cake run in the same direction, leaving a small gap between strings for the mummy’s eyes to peek out. Garnish with spider or candy eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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