Halloween used to be a big deal for me, but not so much these days. I guess it’s because I moved away from my friends who threw big costume parties for the occasion. *sigh* But this year I’m getting back into the spirit of things! Not with a costume, but with this Witches Hair Pasta (Squid Ink Pasta). Black pasta? It’s a thing! Squid ink is used to color and flavor various kinds of pasta, like spaghetti, and it just happens to look spooky on or around Halloween. I’ve got to try this!
This Witches hair pasta is the perfect dinner for Halloween night. Jet black strands of squid ink pasta dressed with a garlic and chilli oil. Delicious, simple and dramatic. And there is plenty of garlic in there to keep the vampires at bay….well it is Halloween!
The Ingredients
This Halloween creation sounds like a simple recipe, and that starts with the ingredients, all five of them. Yes, five ingredients. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find squid ink spaghetti at Whole Foods, so I turned to Amazon. I found a 1-pound package for about $10. It’s pricey, but it is a special occasion.
The Process
I started this recipe on step 2, boiling water for the pasta. I needed a big pot for the spaghetti, and I knew it would need some time to come to a boil. Once it was on the stove, I moved back to step 1, chopping the garlic.
The garlic was ready before the pasta water, so I used a small saucepan to cook it in the olive oil. The water reached a boil while it was cooking, so I got the pasta started. That’s when I noticed the package didn’t have the cooking time listed.
No problem, I just checked a package of regular spaghetti. It listed a cooking time of 8-9 minutes, so I set my timer for 8 minutes. That cooked it perfectly.
Speaking of pasta, the water is important for this recipe. You have to add some to the garlic-olive oil mixture and reserve a little more. The extra is in case you want to add it to the cooked pasta after adding the olive oil mixture. I didn’t need to, but I’m glad I had the option.
That’s about it. Cook the garlic and spaghetti, then mix it all up together (I used the pot I boiled the pasta in). The recipe lists 15 minutes, but my Witches Hair Pasta took 20 minutes. Still, not bad.
