Halloween Dinner Menu

Bat Brains with Pumpkin Pasta
Vampire Blood drinks
Chocolate cupcakes

I was trying to be creative for Halloween. Last year it was eyeball tacos with bloody maggots. the "eyeballs" were veggie meatballs with sour cream (obviously now it would be vegan sour cream) dollops and black sliced olives to resemble eyes. And the "bloody maggots" was Spanish rice. I want to continue to do something different every year though. This year I veganized Rachel Ray's Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage recipe and used the Italian Meatballs recipe from www.vegweb.com (any recipe or store bought vegan meatballs will work).

I also found a great recipe for Vampire Blook drinks on the Food Network website.

Bat Brains with Pumpkin Pasta
Veggie meatballs, cooked according to recipe/package directions
1 pound penne rigate, cooked to al dente
1/2 cup soy or rice milk
1/2 container (about 19 oz) of silken tofu
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup vegetable stock, canned or paper container
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
Coarse salt and black pepper

Directions

Boil water and add penne pasta. Cook to al dente (firm but not uncooked basically).


In a blender combine the soy (rice) milk and tofu. Blend until smooth.

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and add the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Reduce heat and stir in tofu mixture. Season the sauce with the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Remove the bay leaf from sauce and add in the drained pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute.

You can either mix in the veggie meatballs (aka bat brains) to give them more of a smashed/combined look or add them on top of the pasta when you serve it. I did a little of both.