Halloween Pizza Mummies (Pastry)

Halloween is one of the fun festivals of the year for kids and adults (well, originally it was not:)). It is a holiday that is described as spooky, haunting, supernatural, eerie, scary, fun, creepy and ghostly. Children simply look forward to it, as they get candies unlimited, get to wear their favorite character costume and get together with their friends to go trick or treating. Few enthusiasts throw costume parties and many of them decorate their yards and homes with haunting decor, smoke, spooky music, lights etc.

And then there is a whole other event of carving pumpkins! Every one gets very creative and carve some real great art on it.

Wolverine with the carved pumpkin :)

Every festival comes with its own set of food preparations and flavors, without which the celebration is incomplete :) People get really innovative making all sorts of spooky dishes during halloween. Internet buzzes with scary, gross, fun, bloody recipes heheh. This one here is a simple, quick and fun recipe for the kids made from frozen puff pastry, I named it as "Halloween Pizza Mummies Pastry". I wanted to stuff it with some fruits but my kid wanted a pizza stuffing in it, so that is what I had to make. You can stuff it with anything you like, say fruits, paneer burji stuffing, egg stuffing or keema stuffing just about anything.

If you are interested in knowing what halloween story is all about, read this:
Halloween falls on October 31st each year in North America and other parts of the world. The story goes like this, this holiday was originally called All Hallows' Eve, and it marked the beginning of a three-day feast to honor dead Christian saints, also known as hallows. The celts and the pagan cultures thought that, during late autumn and early winter, spirits were more likely to cross back into the human world to seek revenge on those people who had wronged them. Food offerings were made to appease angry spirits. People began dressing up in costumes to imitate ghosts, sprites and evil spirits. They hoped to blend in with or conceal themselves from restless and vengeful ghosts.

Devil and the Transformer with a scenic backdrop of fall colors !

Trick or treating symbolizes the act of appeasing angry ghosts with food in order to avoid their mischievous pranks. Jack o' lanterns were created to ward off ghosts. Although Christians have tried to redirect the focus of the holiday from ancient pagan rituals to honoring the saints, some have still kept some of the traditions, such as placing candles on the graves of the dead.

But as years past by, Halloween is not usually considered a religious holiday anymore. It is primarily a fun day for children. Children dress up in costumes like people did a thousand years ago. But instead of worrying about evil spirits, they go from house to house. They knock on doors and say "trick or treat."

(taken from history.com)

Let us take a look at the Halloween Pizza Mummies recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 packet frozen pastry puff (I made of 1 sheet and got 6 mummies:))
• 1 egg
• 1 small red onion sliced
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce (or marinara sauce)
• 1 chicken sausage cooked and sliced
• 2-3 mini peppers sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or any cheese)
• few store bought eye candies ( or use olives)

Preparation:

• Thaw the frozen puff pastry for 45 minutes on the kitchen counter (or follow the instructions on the package).
• On a wax paper, open the sheet and sprinkle some all purpose flour on it, roll it out smoothly using rolling pin, just couple of inches on all the sides.
• Follow the pictures above to make cuts, first big squares. Then mark a rectangle cut in the centre and horizontal small cuts on each side.
• In the centre rectangle, place pizza sauce, top it with your fav toppings, I have used onions, mini peppers, chicken sausage, cheese. Then braid it by taking a strip from each side and overlapping it tightly and neatly.
• Beat an egg in a bowl, give the mummies an egg wash by using a brush.
• Place it on a baking sheet and bake it on 400F(200C) for 15 minutes. Take it out and place the candy eyes on it to make it look goofy :) My kid was thrilled and it was my pleasure to see him gobble it all :)
• Enjoy it with fries and your favorite drink :)

You may also like Pastry Flag Pizza, Dosa Flag, Pastry fruit Cups.

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Idea adapted from www.homeandplate.com

Throwing in one more halloween pic here while I am at it :):)

always fun to wear costumes!