Halloween Worms in Dirt Recipe

I got the idea for these Worms in Dirt for Halloween from the Queen of American DIY Martha Stewart as she always has such great, ghoulish ideas. It is one of the simplest items to make. I couldn't find any black beans as she had specified so I bought red kidney beans and bought two sachets of squid ink from the deli.

I followed Martha's instructions and found that I didn't need anywhere near the eight hot dogs that she specified, only about three of them. And I also found that leaving the skin on them was better for that worm curling effect. I added some tiny sprigs of curly parsley to resemble grass tufts and placed these in a wooden box and handed them around like some sort of twisted version of an ice cream seller in a theatre.

Think of this as so easy it is about the antithesis of the Halloween Gingerbread House which just about gave me a case of nervous exhaustion.

Worms In Dirt

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

• 3 hot dogs

• 2 tins black beans (I could only get red kidney beans)

• 2 small sachets of squid ink (optional but perhaps necessary if you can only get red kidney beans like me)

• A little curly parsley

Buyer's tip: Buy squid ink at good delis

Step 1 - Place a large pot of water on to boil. Leaving the skin on (I unskinned them but they curl better with the skin on), slice the hot dog in half lengthways and then slice each half into four horizontally and then slice little "worm like" pieces.  Boil for a few minutes until the pieces start curling. Drain.

Step 2 - Drain and rinse the beans and blend them up with some black olives and some squid ink (if using) to colour. Gently tuck the worms into the dirt. Dot the edges with bits of curly parsley to look like grass.