Cheesy Skulls of Mozzarella Cheese pop on top of a homemade Caprese Pasta Salad to make this awesome-looking Halloween Recipe! We love a good Savory Halloween Dish and this Mozzarella Skull Caprese Pasta Salad is perfect!

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Halloween is almost here and we’re taking one of our favorite summer pasta salads and giving it a Halloween twist with these easy-to-make Mozzarella Skulls! Mozzarella Skull Creepy…. I mean…Caprese Pasta Salad!

Why Skulls in the Caprese Pasta Salad?

Because we’re outfitting this summer dish for spooky season! Caprese Salad is made up of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, basil, and a bit of Olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We love adding pasta to this to create the Caprese Pasta Salad.

However, I thought it would be great to take the mozzarella part of this Caprese Pasta Salad and turn them into tiny skulls for a spooky twist!

Ingredients For Skull Caprese Pasta Salad:

8 ounce fresh mozzarella pearls
4 tablespoons olive oil or extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved (You can also use grape tomatoes)
9 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini*
Salt & Pepper

You’ll also need a silicon food-safe skull mold.

I got this black one from Amazon but I’ve also seen silicon skull molds at Michaels and Target.

*I used tri-colored refrigerated cheese tortellini for this recipe but you can use any refrigerated cheese tortellini

Ingredient amounts and recipe directions are in the recipe card below with a print option!

How To Make Skull Caprese Pasta Salad:

Preheat oven to 200F.

These are the mozzarella pearls that I used.
First Make the Skulls:
Add 3-4 fresh mozzarella pearls to the cavity of each skull in a silicon mold (depending on size of the mold).
Place silicon skull mold on a baking tray and place into a preheated oven, bake for 20 minutes.

DO NOT over bake as this will cause the mozzarella pearls to dry out and you’ll get holes in the skulls.
Once the 20 minutes it up, remove the mold from oven and using the back of a spoon, carefully push mozzarella down into the mold a bit.

Do NOT drain the liquid from the molds.
Place mold into fridge for 30 minutes to chill and firm up.
Make the Pasta Salad:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Add in the chopped basil.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the bowl. You can leave some of the tomatoes whole if you want.
Once the water is boiling, add the refrigerated cheese tortellini. Cook according to the package directions, about 5-7 – 10 minutes.
Once the pasta is tender, pour it into a colander and rinse cooked pasta with cold water.
Once pasta is cool, add to bowl and stir everything together.
Add a few dashes of salt and pepper.
Taste and season as desired.
Cover bowl and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Before serving, toss pasta salad.
Remove mozzarella skulls from fridge and pop them out of the mold.
Top Pasta salad with mozzarella skulls.
You may want to add a few more dashes of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, as the pasta will soak up the liquid in the pasta salad while in the fridge.
You can also finish it off with a balsamic glaze before serving.

What Kind Of Pasta Should I Use For Skull Caprese Pasta Salad?

I used tri-colored refrigerated cheese tortellini for this recipe but you can use any refrigerated cheese tortellini. Of course, you could use any pasta but I like using the cheese-filled tortellini for this pasta salad. I really like using the tri-colored cheese-filled tortellini because it adds more color to the pasta salad.

What Is The Best Cheese for Making Cheese Skulls?

I find that fresh mozzarella pearls are best for making the cheesy skulls for this recipe. You could also try using slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and cutting them down to fit the mold.

Remember, when baking the cheese for these molds, you don’t want to over bake them because you’ll end up baking the moisture out of the cheese and you’ll end up with dry skulls full of holes.

Can I Make The Mozzarella Skulls Ahead Of Time?

You can! You could make these cheesy skulls the day before (or even 2 days before) and keep them in the fridge in an airtight container.

More Skull Recipe:

More Halloween Pasta recipes:

Mozzarella Skull Caprese Pasta Salad

Yield: 6 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Chill Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

8 ounce fresh mozzarella pearls
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
9 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini*
Salt & Pepper

Instructions

Make The Skulls 1st:

Add 3-4 fresh mozzarella pearls to the cavity of each skull in a silicon skull mold (depending on size of mold).
Preheat oven to 200F.
Place silicon skull mold on a baking tray and place into a preheated oven, bake for 20 minutes. DO NOT over bake as this will cause the mozzarella pearls to dry out and you'll get holes in the skulls.
Once the 20 minutes it up, remove the mold from oven and using the back of a spoon, carefully push mozzarella down into the mold a bit.
Place mold into fridge for 30 minutes to chill and firm up.

Make the Pasta Salad:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Add in the chopped basil.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the bowl. You can leave some of the tomatoes whole if you want.
Once the water is boiling, add the refrigerated cheese tortellini. Cook according to the package directions, about 5-7 - 10 minutes.
Once the pasta is tender, pour it into a colander and rinse with cold water.

Once pasta is cool, add to bowl and stir everything together.
Add a few dashes of salt and pepper.
Taste and season as desired.
Cover bowl and chill in fridge for at least 4 hours.
Before serving, toss pasta salad.
Remove mozzarella skulls from fridge and pop them out of the mold.
Top Pasta salad with mozzarella skulls.
You may want to add a few more dashes of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, as the pasta will soak up the liquid in the pasta salad while in the fridge.
You can also finish it off with a balsamic glaze before serving.

Notes

*I used tri-colored refrigerated cheese tortellini for this recipe but you can use any refrigerated cheese tortellini

If you make this recipe, leave me a comment or snap a picture and share it on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #bigbearswife — I love to see what you’re cooking from the blog!

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Welcome to 2024’s #HalloweenTreatsWeek event!

If you’re new here, Welcome! If you’re a returning haunt, welcome back!

#HalloweenTreatsWeek is a yearly Halloween blogging event that is hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife . This spooky event is an online, week-long event that is filled with some frightfully fun Halloween treats and recipes from some fantastic Halloween loving bloggers!

For this year’s 7th annual #HalloweenTreatsWeek event we have 12 hauntingly talented bloggers who are sharing their favorite Halloween recipes throughout the week! You can follow the hashtag #HalloweenTreatsWeek on social media to collect all of these frightful recipes to use at your own Halloween parties and events!

Mozzarella Skull Caprese Pasta Salad from BigBearsWife
Hocus Pocus Spell Book Rice Krispie Treats from Semi-Homemade Recipes
Vanilla Citrus Cider from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Sally’s Worms Wort Nightmare Before Christmas Soup from The Spiffy Cookie
Purple People Eater Macaron from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Mini Pizza Skulls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Halloween Candy Chocolate Pie from Sweet ReciPEAs
Halloween Bark from Art of Natural Living
Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Mozzarella Skull Caprese Pasta Salad – CreepyCaprese