When the end of October arrives, it is a must to celebrate Halloween and los Dias de los Muertos eating pumpkin, chocolate and traditional Mexican food. With this blog we are proposing you four great recipes for a tasty and nutritious dinner: Halloween salad, butternut squash gnocchi as main, a delicious chocolate spider web cake to drink with a Mexican Hot chocolate.
Halloween Salad
Ingredients:
- Red and Orange Peppers
- Feta Cheese
- Black olives
- Mix nuts
- Mix Salad
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
- Salt
Directions:
- In a mixing bowl put the mix salad, feta cheese, mix nuts, black olives and add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt.
- Take all the seeds out from the peppers and crave out jack-o'-lantern's face.
- Add inside your salad and your Halloween Salad is served!
Butternut Squash Gnocchi
Ingredients:
- 1 butternut squash
- 250gr flour (we used rice flour)
- 50gr of corn starch (to add more if needed)
- pinch of salt
- Parmesan
- Olive oil
- Black Pepper
Directions:
- Preheat the oven at 180 C
- Boiled 1l of water
- Cut the top, the bottom and an extra 2 cm thick slice of your butternut squash.
- Place the butternut squash you cut in the oven and cook it for 25 minutes
- Cut the rest of the squash in small cubes and once the water is boiling add the butternut squash and let it cook for 20 minutes until it softens.
- Now blend your butternut squash and let it cool.
- In the meantime, take out from the oven the other butternut squash.
- Prepare your flour, salt, olive oil, black pepper and if you have still time start to clean the kitchen.. less to do after!
- Take your smashed squash, add first the flour and then the corn starch. Start to blend everything with your hands, adding more flour and starch if needed.
- You should have a soft dough that holds together, doesn’t feel sticky and can be easily shaped.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll a piece at a time into long, on a lightly floured surface. Keep the surface well-floured as you don’t want the gnocchi to stick.
- Bring a large, deep pot of salted water to the boil. Drop in the gnocchi and let them cook for 2 minutes.
- Take your baked butternut squash and serve inside your gnocchi
- Add now olive oil, parmesan and black pepper.
- Buon Appetito!
Chocolate Spider Web Cake
Ingredients:
- 250gr rice flour or any preferred flour
- 50gr of cacao powered
- 80gr sugar or erythritol
- 125gr of yogurt
- 200ml of any milk
- 1 bag of yeast
- Optional: egg and pieces dark chocolate
For the decorations:
- Marshmallows as a spider web
Directions:
- Preheat the oven at 180 C
- Stir together all the dry ingredients first (flour, cocoa, yeast and erythritol)
- Now add slowly the milk and after the yogurt.
- If you want add one egg and the chopped chocolate to the mix.
- Put your dough in the hinged pan and bake it for 25 minutes
- Once the cake is baked let it cool for 10 minutes
- Place the marshmallows in a bowl and microwave for 20/30 seconds. See if the consistency is fine by dipping two fingers into the marshmallows and open and close your fingers until the marshmallows become stringy. Now you can make a web over the cake.
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 tablespoon of sugar or erythritol
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves and nutmeg
- 3 cups semi skimmed milk or any alternative milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional: Whipped cream and whole cinnamon sticks
Directions:
- In a saucepan first mix the sugar and cocoa together, then slowly add the hot water and stir all together
- Once it is boiling, reduce heat, keep stirring for couple of minutes.
- Now add the cinnamon, a dash of cloves and nutmeg.
- At this point you can stir in the milk of your choice.
- Simmer for 5 minutes
- Whisk in the vanilla extract and Enjoy!
