Skull & Pumpkin Halloween Soup makes the perfect spooky dinner. Loaded with protein, Italian seasonings, potato and mushroom skulls, and pumpkin carrots, this dish is filling, flavorful and fun.
Begin by preparing the pumpkin carrots. Peel the carrots. Make two parallel cuts lengthwise along the carrot, framing what is going to be the stem of the pumpkin. The cuts should extend about 1/8-inch into the carrot. Make two additional cuts, lengthwise, at a 45-degree angle intersecting at the base of each of the initial cuts. These two cuts should also be about 1/8-inch deep. Once these cuts are drawn the length of the carrot you should be able to remove two long pieces from each side of the ‘stem’. The carrot should now look like a pumpkin when sliced into rounds. Repeat for all the carrots and then slice into ¼-inch rounds. Set aside.
Halve the mini yellow potatoes. Place the halved potatoes flat-side down on a cutting board. With the stainless-steel straw, puncture two ‘eyes’ in each of the halved potatoes. Remove the piece of potato after each puncture to prevent the straw from getting clogged (to make this easier I used a metal skewer and kept it loaded in the straw and just tapped on the end to remove the piece of potato from the straw). Then with a knife, carefully slice a mouth into the flesh of each potato just below the eyes. These cuts do not need to be deep, just draw one horizontal slit with the knife and then several vertical slits along the first line to make a ‘skeleton mouth’. Repeat for all the potatoes and set aside.
As you did with the potatoes, halve the mushrooms and then lay them flat side down on a cutting board. Use the stainless-steel straw to puncture holes in the mushrooms to create eyes. Repeat until all the mushrooms have eyes and set aside. The mushrooms will require more of a delicate touch to prevent them from breaking apart.
Heat a large stock pot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat with 1 Tablespoon of oil. Add in diced onion and sauté until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the sausage and beef to the stock pot. Break the meat apart with a wooden spatula and allow it to brown. It only needs to be about 2/3 of the way cooked before proceeding to the next step, but it should be fully broken apart with no large chunks.
Add the broth, tomato sauce, salt, herbs, and spices to the pot and stir.
Add the vegetables to the pot and top with the bay leaves.
Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the meat is fully cooked.