A tasty appetizer for Halloween? I suggest Pumpkin Faces with Pizza Flavor (Halloween), a really tasty dish, also ideal for children who might not love vegetables very much.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 23 oz pumpkin (cleaned)
- 2.1 oz tomato sauce
- 1.8 oz stracchino cheese (or another cheese like mozzarella, Emmental)
- to taste fine salt
- to taste olive oil
- to taste dried oregano
Steps
Peel the pumpkin, I usually use a vegetable peeler
Cut the pumpkin into slices about 0.4 inches thick, you should get a total of sixteen slices. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Carve eight of the sixteen slices with a sharp knife, making the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Remove the inner part of the carving and you’ll get your faces.
Place the eight faces and eight bases (uncarved) now on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper, season them with a bit of oil and fine salt. Bake at 356°F for about 20 minutes. They should still be slightly undercooked.
In the meantime, season the tomato sauce with oil, salt, and oregano.
Remove the tray from the oven, let it cool slightly, so you don’t burn yourself and place stracchino (or mozzarella or other cheese) on the uncarved bases.
Then add a tablespoon of seasoned tomato sauce.
Cover the bases with the slices with carved faces. Bake again at 356°F for about 10 more minutes. You can add a bit of oil and salt on the surface to make them even more flavorful.
Remove from the oven and enjoy.
Tips and Suggestions
For the filling, you can also choose different ingredients, for example, ham and processed cheese slice, or mozzarella instead of stracchino.
To make the recipe vegan, you can use a plant-based cheese.
If you enjoyed the Pumpkin Faces with Pizza Flavor (Halloween), try the other Halloween recipes:
Savory Coffin Pie for Halloween
