A little spooky, a little ridiculous, and definitely too much chocolate.
DINNER · HALLOWEEN SPECIAL · SERVES 2
I have a confession.
I love Halloween.
But not the “make your house look like a haunted castle and spend three weeks creating a perfect costume” kind of Halloween.
I love the quiet version.
The candles.
The dark evenings.
The excuse to cook something warm.
The tiny decorations that make your apartment look like a witch with good taste lives there.
(Which, honestly, is the interior design goal I did not know I had.)
This year, I decided to make a little Halloween dinner for two.
Nothing too complicated.
Just good food, a few autumn flavours, and enough chocolate to make everyone forgive my questionable decoration skills.
My boyfriend looked at the table and said:
“Are we having dinner or preparing for a very fancy witch meeting?”
I told him:
“Both.”
He accepted this answer.
This is why we work.
🍄 Starter
Mushroom Toast
The forest called. It wanted its mushrooms back.
There is something magical about mushrooms.
They look like something you would find in an enchanted forest.
They taste like autumn.
And they make any meal feel immediately more cosy.
This recipe is simple:
toasted bread,
creamy mushrooms,
herbs,
and a little cheese.
Basically:
a hug, but edible.
What you’ll need
For 2 people:
- 4 slices of rustic bread
- 300 g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp cream cheese or crème fraîche
- A handful of fresh parsley
- A little thyme
- Salt and pepper
Optional but highly recommended:
- grated Parmesan
- a drizzle of honey
Let’s cook
Toast the bread until golden.
In a pan, heat butter and olive oil.
Add the shallot and cook until soft.
Add the mushrooms.
Let them cook properly.
Mushrooms have a dramatic personality.
First they release all their water and make you think:
“This is never going to work.”
Then suddenly:
beautiful.
Trust the mushrooms.
Add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.
Finish with cream cheese and parsley.
Put everything on your toast.
Add Parmesan.
Eat immediately.
Because waiting is difficult and nobody is judging you.
🎃 Main Course
Pumpkin & Feta Pasta
The pasta that accidentally became my autumn personality.
Every October, I buy a pumpkin.
Usually for decoration.
Usually.
And then, somehow, a few days later:
I am cooking it.
I think pumpkins know they are delicious.
They manipulate us.
This pasta is creamy, sweet, salty and comforting.
The roasted pumpkin becomes almost like a sauce, the feta adds a little sharpness, and the herbs make everything taste like autumn decided to become dinner.
What you’ll need
For 2–3 people:
- 250 g pasta
- 500 g pumpkin or butternut squash
- 150 g feta cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Fresh thyme
- A pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- A handful of walnuts (optional)
- A little pasta water
Let’s cook
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Cut the pumpkin into cubes.
Put it on a baking tray with olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.
Roast for about 25–30 minutes.
While the pumpkin cooks, prepare your pasta.
Keep some pasta water.
Always keep pasta water.
I forget this approximately every third time.
Pasta water is apparently the ingredient my brain chooses to ignore.
Blend or mash the roasted pumpkin with a little pasta water until creamy.
Mix with the pasta.
Add crumbled feta.
Finish with walnuts and extra thyme.
Serve warm.
🕷️ Dessert
Spiderweb Brownies
Because normal brownies were apparently not dramatic enough.
I wanted to make a scary Halloween dessert.
I failed.
They are not scary.
They are just brownies.
Very good brownies.
Very chocolate brownies.
The spider web decoration was supposed to look elegant and spooky.
It looks more like a spider had a small emotional crisis on top of a cake.
But honestly?
I respect the spider.
What you’ll need
For about 12 brownies:
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 150 g butter
- 150 g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 100 g flour
- 30 g cocoa powder
- A pinch of salt
For the web:
- 100 g white chocolate
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
Let’s bake
Melt the chocolate and butter together.
Add sugar.
Then eggs.
Then flour, cocoa powder and salt.
Mix gently.
Pour into a lined baking tin.
Bake at 180°C / 350°F for around 25 minutes.
Let cool.
For the decoration:
Melt white chocolate.
Create circles on top.
Use a toothpick to drag lines outward.
Congratulations.
You have created a spider web.
Or something that vaguely resembles one.
Both are acceptable.
🍎 Drink
Apple Cinnamon Mocktail
A potion for people who should not be trusted with actual magic.
I love autumn drinks.
Anything with cinnamon immediately makes me want a blanket, a book and approximately twelve candles.
This one tastes like apple pie in a glass.
Without the difficult part where you have to make a pie.
What you’ll need
For 2 glasses:
Let’s make it
Warm the apple juice gently with cinnamon.
Do not boil.
We are making a cosy drink, not a witch potion explosion.
Let it cool.
Fill glasses with ice.
Add apple juice, lemon juice and sparkling water.
Decorate with apple slices and rosemary.
Drink while pretending you are in a mysterious autumn movie.
Eva’s Halloween Table 🎃
The best thing about Halloween is that it does not need to be perfect.
The brownies can look strange.
The decorations can be homemade.
The soup can accidentally become thicker than planned.
The important part is sitting together.
Eating something warm.
Laughing.
Making memories.
My boyfriend’s final review:
Mushroom toast: “Can we have this again?”
→ Excellent sign.
Pumpkin pasta: “I did not expect pumpkin to be this good.”
→ Also known as: winning.
Brownies: “The spider looks worried.”
→ Accurate.
Mocktail: “Can we add rum next time?”
→ Absolutely not.
(Probably.)
The Hungry Redhead Halloween Verdict 🎃
🕯️ Cozy level: ★★★★★
🍂 Autumn feeling: ★★★★★
🕷️ Decoration skills: ★★★☆☆
🍫 Chocolate disappearance speed: suspiciously fast
👻 Chance of making this again next year: 100%
Happy Halloween, everyone. ❤️
Light the candles.
Make something delicious.
And remember:
A little chaos is just another ingredient.
Good food, warm stories, questionable decisions.
xo,
Eva ❤️