Eerie Eyeball Pasta Salad

Happy October!  Happy Halloween!  I hope you like your food staring back at you, because I've got a spooky side dish that should scare the appetite right into you.  I realized a few weeks ago that October was coming in hot and I had nothing new to share with you that was pumpkin spiced, scary, fall-ish, or remotely Halloween-themed.  Thankfully Mr. Devilish Dish is a good sport, and albeit reluctantly, spent an entire Saturday watching football and golf, being fed an assortment of tricks and treats.  I had the "eyeball idea" and couldn't decide between using it for a spaghetti & meatballs type dish (which would be super cute also) or a pasta salad.  I opted for the pasta salad, knowing it is something that could easily be made ahead and ready to eat before an evening of trick or treating, or Halloween partying.  I served this as a spooky side dish, but you could definitely add some additional ingredients like cubed salami or pepperoni, or even grilled chicken and serve it as a meal.  I kept the ingredients super simple, with just grape tomatoes and cucumbers, but feel free to add carrots, artichoke hearts, more olives, onions or anything else your Halloween heart desires.  Just don't forget the mozzarella "eyeballs" or it won't be eerie.

This turned out to be so much fun.

The ingredients.  Feel free to add your favorite
meats or veggies to create your favorite pasta
salad combination.

I used a tiny pumpkin cookie cutter to cut
my cucumber slices into tiny pumpkins.

Combine the halved tomatoes,
cucumber slices and the cooled cooked
pasta in a large bowl.

Add your favorite Italian salad dressing.
(You may not need the whole bottle)
Toss, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, toss the ingredients one
more time and scatter your mozzarella eyeballs
around the top of the salad.

So fun and cute!

I served my salad on the side of 
some Mummy Hot Dogs.

EERIE EYEBALL PASTA SALAD

1 (12 ounce) box Fusilli pasta (I got the tri-color so some would be orange and green)

1 container grape tomatoes, halved
1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 bottle of your favorite Italian salad dressing

1 container Bocconcini (small Mozzarella cheese balls)
1 small can sliced black olives

Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, drain and cool.  Add the grape tomatoes, cucumbers and salad dressing.  (You may not need the entire bottle - just get a good coating.) Combine, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Prior to serving, drain the liquid from both the mozzarella balls, and the black olives.  Using the end of a wooden spoon, CAREFULLY make an indention into the mozzarella ball and insert a sliced black olive into the indention to create eyeball.  Continue until you've used all of your mozzarella balls.  Toss the pasta salad together one more time, and place the eyeballs all around the top of your pasta salad. Serve and enjoy.