Today I’m going to show you this super tasty Halloween recipe, that is also very funny to decorate, with the help of your kids!

Just recently, Halloween Night became more popular  in Italy, where there wasn’t any trace of this holiday until the 90s. Thankfully, nowadays, also Italians can benefit from this pleasant and amusing tradition! Moreover, it is perfect to spend a nice day with relatives and friends, and to cook all together, mostly with children!

Sweets and candies are never lacking for Halloween, whereas scary savoury meals are often more difficult to find and to prepare. However, to keep a dark atmosphere both during the lunch and the dinner time on the 31st of October is fundamental to properly celebrate this awesome night!

So, let’s do all together my fearsome yummy:

The Witches Cemetery

Ingredients for 3-4 people:

• 2 Eggs
• 125g White Flour
• 2 spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil “Il Vero”
• 125ml Milk
• 125ml Cream
• 400g Mushrooms
• Sundried Tomatoes Patè
• 2 Garlic Cloves
• Shaved Parmesan, as needed (a lot!!)
• 150g Diced Cheddar
• 250ml White Sauce (recipe below: 50gr Butter, 3 spoons White Flour, 2 glasses of Milk)
• 5-6 Crackers
• Keptchup
• Parsley, as needed
• salt and pepper, as needed

We start cooking the pancakes. This will be the layers of our peculiar “lasagna”. In a bowl, mix together the white flour, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, milk and butter until smooth.

Warm up a pan, and grease it with a little bit of butter. Pour a spoonful of the pancakes mixture in the pan, and create a round shape, twirling the pan around. Let the crepe turn golden brown, and then turn it to cook the other side. (Around 40 seconds each side).

You should have a good amount of pancakes!

Prepare the fillings:

The first one is a mushroom sauce: fry the mushrooms in a pan with the garlic cloves and extra virgin olive oil, add salt and pepper, as needed. Let them cook for 10-15 minutes with a low heat.

Ones it’s ready, remove the garlic and few mushrooms (we will use it for the filling and for the final decoration), transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and blend them.

Prepare the white sauce: 

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy colour, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.

Add half of the white sauce to the mushroom sauce and stir all together.

Our second filling is made with  Sundried Tomatoes Patè. Just put the content of the sun-dried tomato in a pot and dilute it with 5-6 spoons of water. Let it boil for few minutes and then reduce the heat: ready to go!

Create the layers of our pancake-lasagna in the following way :

• The first layer of crepes:
• Spread the mushroom sauce on top of the pancake, add some of the remaining mushrooms, the diced cheddar and, finally drizzle the parmesan on top
• Place the second layer of pancakes:
• Spread the Sundried Tomatoes Patè on to of the pancake, few spoonfuls of the remaining white sauce and finally, drizzle shaved parmesan on top

Continue this way, until the crepes or the fillings are finished. The lasagna should end with a rich layer of mushroom sauce, which will remind you of the ground of a graveyard.

Now: LET’S DECORATE!

Take the crackers and decorate them as little graves using the ketchup.

Insert them on top of the lasagna, with the help of a knife. Then create a path of cheddar cubes, and finally decorating with “parsley-bushes”.

Put in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 180°. The ketchup will get a darker colour and the cheese will melt… your Witches Cemetery will be warm, stringy and absolutely delicious!

Serve with a glass of Red Blood and…. Buon appetito!

Enjoy!