Halloween Party Food | Swamp Monster Spaghetti
Turn your spaghetti into a spooky masterpiece with this Swamp Monster Spaghetti recipe! Featuring black spaghetti and a marinara meat sauce speckled with olive eyes!
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories: 506kcal
Ingredients
For the Marinara and Meat Sauce:
- 2 pounds 80/20 ground beef
- 3 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt separated
- 2 ½ teaspoons black pepper separated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- ½ red bell pepper seeded, stemmed and finely diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large 28 ounces can crushed tomatoes
- 1 small 14 ounces can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the Black Spaghetti:
- Salt for pasta water
- 1 pound dried spaghetti
- ½ teaspoon black gel food coloring
- ⅓ cup whole pimento-stuffed green olives
Instructions
Method:
- Have ready a colander placed in the sink, heavily lined with paper towels.
For the sauce:
- Add the ground beef to a Dutch oven or a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper, and break apart with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook the beef until completely browned, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Cut off the heat. Transfer the cooked beef to the colander, pressing out any excess grease. Carefully, wipe down the inside of the Dutch oven, and any drippings on the outside as well.
- Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon salt and 1 ½ teaspoon black pepper and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and maintain a slow simmer with the lid ajar for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and set aside until ready to use.
- Return to the stovetop, increase heat to medium and add olive oil. Allow the oil to come to temperature, and add the onions and peppers. Sauté about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and sauté 1 minute more.
For the black spaghetti:
- place a large pot of heavily salted, boiling water over high heat. Stir in the food coloring, and add the noodles. Cook according to package directions and strain well. Transfer the spaghetti to a serving platter, and top with meat sauce. Cut the olives into thick slices and place in pairs across the top of the sauce. Serve and enjoy.
- Serves 8.
Nutrition
Calories: 506kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 1127mg | Potassium: 539mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 318IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 3mg