Halloween Pasta

What You Need:

• 2 c fresh spinach
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 c warm vegetable stock
• 8–10 drops green food coloring
• 8 ounces pasta
• Strainer
• ½ c slivered almonds
• Water
• Blender
• Small, fresh mozzarella cheese balls
• Green olives
• Large stockpot
• Paring knife
• Spatula
• Serving bowl

What You Do:

1. Invite your child to fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Ask your child to add the pasta very carefully once the water starts boiling, and turn down the heat a bit.
2. While the pasta is simmering, your child can create the sauce for the green ghoulish pasta. They can place the fresh spinach in the blender, the whole clove of garlic, as well as the warm stock, cover, and pulse until everything is smooth.
3. Now it's time to really green things up by adding 8–10 drops of green food coloring to the mix and blend again.
4. Once the pasta has boiled for 8-minutes, your child can strain the pasta in the sink and then return it to the pot. Offer adult supervision as needed.
5. Have your child add the green sauce to the pasta and simmer on low for about 5 minutes.
6. While the pasta is finishing in the pot, invite your child to create some ghoulish eyeballs to pop in the green pasta. Using a paring knife, they can make an X in the center of a small ball of fresh mozzarella cheese and pop in half of a green olive.
7. Now your child can turn off the heat and use a spatula to place the pasta in a serving bowl. Have them position the eyes in the pasta and create a toothy smile with the slivered almonds.

All that’s left is to invite the family to sit down for a fun Halloween dinner!