Bruschetta isn’t typically considered a Halloween party dish, but this Halloween bruschetta appetizer recipe is well worth a look. Your Halloween guests will love this tasty dish. If you like bruschetta, you are going to love this unusual, scary good Halloween version which features black pesto along with mini skull-shaped mozzarella balls. This is a quick and easy appetizer on toasted bread and it boasts plenty of Italian flavours.
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Mozzarella skulls sit on a bed of black pesto and cherry tomatoes to make this tempting Halloween treat. Garnished with fresh herbs and served as part of your Halloween spread, these crunchy, flavourful bites are sure to go down well.
Why You’ll Love It
Delicious: Bruschetta is a tasty snack made with toasted bread, tomatoes, basil pesto, and mozzarella. This Halloween take on the classic Italian recipe takes all those ingredients, adding just a couple of minor twists to make it spooky, but the bruschetta still offers all the flavours you love.
Simple: Making this is just as easy as making regular bruschetta, except you will be pressing the mozzarella into skull-shaped molds and adding some black food dye to the basil pesto.
Prep it ahead: This bruschetta can be prepared in advance and then popped into the oven when you’re ready.
Bruschetta for Halloween Ingredients
Typical bruschetta ingredients like mozzarella, basil, bread, pesto, and tomatoes pair with black food colouring and a balsamic vinegar glaze to make this wonderful Halloween treat. A little salt and pepper, and perhaps red pepper flakes as well are all the seasonings needed here.
How to Make This Halloween Favourite
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Make the mozzarella skulls: Fill your skull molds with mozzarella and bake until melted, then let them cool.
Roast the tomatoes: Halve the tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season to taste, then bake them until golden.
Toast the bread: Slice the bread and toast in the oven until just golden.
Make the black pesto: Mix black food colouring into the pesto, a little at a time, until it’s dark enough.
Assemble the bruschetta: Brush the pesto over the bread and bake, then add the tomatoes and mozzarella skulls on top.
Finishing touches: Drizzle a serving platter with balsamic glaze and scatter some fresh basil on it, then arrange the Halloween party bruschetta on top.
Substitutions and Variations
You might like to add some minced black olives or poppy seeds to the pesto, or chop a larger piece of mozzarella down for making the skulls if you can’t find the mozzarella pearls.
Any brand of pesto would work, or even homemade. You might like to spread some minced garlic over the bread before adding the pesto.
What to Serve with This Party Perfect Halloween Appetizer
The chewy, doughy deliciousness of the bread, sweet juicy tomatoes and creamy mozzarella makes these a perfectly satisfying Halloween themed appetizer. If you want a dipping sauce, whisk cream cheese with mayonnaise and serve that alongside.
So you could either offer them as an appetizer before a main dish, or else add them to the buffet table with your mummy hot dogs, anitpasto eyeball appetizers, mini meat loaves, blueberry brie snacks, and other fun party favourites.
How to Store Leftovers
Store: If you have leftovers, you can keep them for a couple of days in the refrigerator, but the bruschetta will get a little soggy as the pesto soaks into the toasted bread.
Bruschetta Halloween Appetizers FAQs
Although bruschetta is a bread-based appetizer, you might not want to have bread, and anyone who is gluten-free or eating low-carb will be wondering about alternatives.
The toppings can be served on pita chips, plain or cheese crackers or even on slices of cucumber or a bed of salad leaves. Pizza dough squares would work too. And then you also have gluten-free breads to choose from if gluten is an issue.
The mozzarella skulls certainly do look great on these Halloween inspired bruschetta bites, but if you want to make this and have no skull molds, you can still make it. Add some black plastic spiders or other Halloween decorations.
Halloween Bruschetta Recipe
Halloween Bruschetta
Ingredients
- 6 Ounces fresh mozzarella pearls
- 1 baguette demi
- ½ Cup basil pesto
- black gel food coloring
- 12 Ounces cherry tomatoes
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- red pepper flakes
Optional Garnishes
- basil fresh
- balsamic vinegar glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place the silicone skull mold onto a baking sheet. Fill the silicone skull molds with the mozzarella pearls. Place in the oven and bake for 6 to 7 minutes or until the mozzarella is just melted, not browned.
- Remove from the oven and use the back of a lightly oiled spoon to press the mozzarella firmly into the mold. If excess moisture comes to the surface, use a paper towel to soak it up. Set aside and let the mozzarella cool in the molds completely.
- Raise the oven temperature to 475 degrees F.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise, and place them cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are soft and browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Slice the baguette into ½” slices and arrange them on another baking sheet in one layer. Place the baking sheet with the baguette slices into the oven. Toast the bread for 8 to 10 minutes, just until it is barely starting to toast, then remove from the oven.
- While the bread is toasting, mix the pesto with the black food coloring, start with about 1/8th teaspoon and add more as needed.
- When the bread is out of the oven, spread the tops of each piece with the black pesto, making sure to cover the whole top evenly.
- Place the bread back into the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are golden, then remove from the oven.
- Top each piece with some of the roasted cherry tomatoes, and the mozzarella skulls.
- Serve on a platter that is drizzled with balsamic glaze and scattered with fresh basil.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
A Halloween party favourite, this Halloween inspired bruschetta is quick, easy, colourful, and very tasty. The black pesto and skull-shaped mozzarella pieces make these ideal for the occasion. And they will certainly help you have a fun Halloween. Add these in the middle of your buffet table beside the deviled eggs, sliced apples and baked brie and even a jack o lantern pumpkin or two, and everyone will want to enjoy it.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a storyteller, food lover, dog mom and adventure seeker living on the Pacific coast. She shares her passion for food, dogs, fitness, adventures, travel and philanthropy, in hopes of encouraging followers to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places and stand for a cause. Bella lives with Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease.
