Pasta DishesNo. 2153 · The 2026 edition
Spooky spaghetti: a Halloween pasta recipe
Turn dinner into a haunted feast with this creepy-cute spaghetti dish featuring mozzarella eyeballs and olive spiders.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at rhubarbarians.com.
This Halloween pasta recipe transforms simple ingredients into a spooky centerpiece. Olives become eyeballs and spiders, while pesto coats the noodles. It's a quick, fun meal that will delight both kids and adults.
Ingredients
Directions
- Cook pasta: bring 4 quarts of water to a rapid boil in a large pot, then cook 8 ounces of dry spaghetti according to box directions (you can salt the water if you like). While the pasta cooks, prepare the eyeballs and spiders for decoration.
- Make the eyeballs: slice 4 firm black olives crosswise into 4 rounds each. Select 12 rounds with the largest holes. Gently press one olive round into a small mozzarella ball (bocconcini), repeating for all 12 mozzarella balls—you'll end up with 12 eyeballs.
- Make the spiders: cut 12 firm black olives in half lengthwise to yield 24 halves. Set aside 8 halves for spider bodies. Cut the remaining 16 halves crosswise into 4 slices each, producing 64 leg pieces.
- Assemble spiders on the pasta before serving: place one olive half with the pit cavity down on top of the spaghetti as the body. Arrange 4 leg slices along each side of the body, curving them upward. Repeat to make 8 spiders total—2 per serving.
- Drain the cooked pasta and rinse with water. In a large bowl, toss the spaghetti with 1/2 cup pesto until evenly coated. Divide the pasta among 4 plates.
- Top each plate of spaghetti with 3 mozzarella eyeballs and 2 olive spiders, placing them wherever you like.
- Garnish each plate with 3 baby basil leaves, then serve and enjoy.
