It’s finally fall! I think we have all collectively been waiting on it to arrive with promises of cooler weather, finally decorating for fall and of course, Halloween. Now, I don’t know about you but I am such a lover of all things Halloween that I want to go all out and turn my house into a haunted house. My husband is not on board with this. He thinks the mess we make on a daily basis is scary enough. He’s right, but booo to him!
When it comes to decorating for Halloween, I’ve noticed my style changing as I’ve changed. When I was a little kid, I was quite the master artisan, and we decorated the house with whatever couture Q-tip/paper plate/crepe paper monstrosity we made at school that week. We had colorful jack-o-lanterns hanging haphazardly throughout our tiny apartment in Boston. We took orange and black streamers and taped them all over the walls. We took candy and put it in random cereal bowls around the house and took a Sharpie to our soap dispensers to turn them into jack-o-lanterns, too. It was our childish masterpiece and my parents happily went along with it to see us smile.
We were too cool for Halloween during our teen years because my friends and I were busy being so very cool with our velvet chokers, too-dark lipstick and flannel shirts tied around our overalls. But secretly I missed it, so I made up for it by just watching all the cheesy Halloween movies with my family. I was always lead decorator at the house, so if I didn’t do it, it just didn’t happen. And it didn’t happen for quite some time while I figured myself out during those adorable teenage years. By adorable, I mean scathing.
So fast forward to when I started decorating again. At first, it was all the cutesy ghosts, witches and black cats, and my food seemed to match it, aka a lot of cute Halloween food. And it was fun, but I wanted something different soon after, so I started embracing themes and, again, my food followed.
That brings us to present day. I love the cutesy décor, and sometimes the scary décor, but this year wanted to do something more elegant and adult. I’ve decided to go with an evil sorceress’ theme: lots of black lace, skulls painted gold or silver, tons of candles and dark flower petals. I think when you find your theme, you should really go all out. I mean, Halloween does only come around once a year.
So what would an evil sorceress feed her guests? She’s private, so she may hold an intimate and elegant dinner using only the best ingredients. She’s a powerful and busy girl. She wouldn’t do a bacon cheese dip or nachos. No, I have a feeling she’d serve a seated meal, a plate filled with the longest and blackest snakes she could find. She’d serve the snakes with green eyeballs plucked straight from salamanders and add in some large crushed red beetles. And the main attraction on this dish? The tail of a sea monster. I’m sure she found everything readily available at her local supermarket.
This dish is extremely elegant, gourmet enough for your toughest critics and still totally different than what you’re used to seeing as typical Halloween fare. If you’re feeling Halloween-y but want an upscale version, I hope you give this a try.
As for me and my decorations, it’s funny how I find myself going back in time now that I have my own kids. Their Halloween arts and crafts are my pride and joy and will go up every year despite my theme. I will allow them to take a Sharpie to my soap dispensers and I will still totally make cutesy snacks for them just to see them smile. You can have a little of all your styles for Halloween — a powerful sorceress makes her own rules.
Squid Ink Pasta with Lobster Tails
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 2 lobster tails, whole (steamed: see notes below)
- 1 pound squid ink pasta
- 4 tbsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon zest
- 7 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 sprigs thyme, destemmed
- 1 sprig rosemary, destemmed and chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine or pasta water
- 3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 green Spanish olives, pitted
- salt and pepper to taste, plus salt for pasta water
Directions:
Boil a large pot of water and salt generously. Add in pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Strain and reserve about a cup of pasta water.
For the sauce: In a large skillet, add in butter, olive oil, herbs, zest and garlic. Cook on medium low heat until fragrant. Add in tomatoes and olives and cook until the tomatoes burst. Add in just a bit of salt and pepper, but do not over salt.
Add in dry white wine or pasta water and cook until it all comes together like a sauce. Add in the pasta and let it all cook together for a couple of minutes. Check again for seasonings and add in additional salt if necessary. Top with fresh parsley.
For steamed lobster: Fill a large pot 2-3 inches full with water. Add in 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp. dried basil and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Insert a steamer or a colander inside and add in the lobster tails. Cover and steam for about 8-9 minutes on medium low heat.
Plate pasta and sauce. Top with additional parsley if necessary, a little grated parmesan and a lobster tail on top of each plate of pasta.
Enjoy your ghoulishly elegant Halloween dinner!
Chef's Notes:
Can’t find lobster in a landlocked state? I hear ya! Use shrimp instead. I'd use about 6-8 pieces of shrimp per person depending on size. (Pro tip: Get it shelled and deveined so you’re not doing all the work.) You can either steam the shrimp like the lobster (check after 6 minutes because they cook fast) or you can just add them to the butter sauce before adding the pasta. Cook until pink, then add in pasta.
Can’t find squid ink pasta? You can easily order some from an online retailer, but if you don’t have time for that and just want black pasta, you can just add in food coloring and add a bottle of clam juice to the pasta water. You’re not going to have duplicate of squid ink pasta by any means, but it’ll be a fun dish.
Use only a tsp. of black food coloring and add it directly into the pasta water as its boiling. (Pro tip: Don't wear anything you care about while you cook it because of splashes and accidents.) I’d recommend rinsing it after cooking — as horrible as that is in the pasta world. Lastly, serve on a dark plate in case it leaches out colored water. Oh, and be mindful of your teeth. Honestly, get the squid ink pasta to save on all this hassle.
From Z to A with Zara Abbasi
Zara Abbasi is the pastry chef and recipe developer for Zara Made It. Follow her food adventures on Instagram at@zaramadeit.
