In this recipe, your Marmite breadstick snakes will be slithering alongside a spicy tomato ‘blood’ dip. You’ll even make eyes and a tongue for your snakes – a great one to get the kids involved (feel free to leave the chilli out of the dip!)

Spooky Marmite Snakes with ‘Bloody’ Tomato Sauce Recipe

Serves 4-6 people

Cook time: 1 hour + 1 hour prove time

Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients 

200g strong white bread flour

4g fast action yeast

½ tsp sugar

2 tbsp Marmite

2-3 tbsp chopped thyme leaves

1 red pepper

200g tin chopped tomatoes

1 red chilli (optional)

Handful black olives

2 tbsp black sesame seeds

Bamboo skewers

Method

Make the Marmite snakes

Step 1 Dissolve the Marmite into a jug of 125ml lukewarm water.

Step 2 Add the bread flour, sugar, thyme leaves and yeast to a large bowl then gradually add the Marmite water while using your hands to bring the mixture together to form a dough.

Step 3 Knead the dough on a clean worktop for 5-10 min or until smooth and elastic (if your dough is sticking, add a sprinkle of flour to the surface).

Step 4 Once smooth, add the dough back into the bowl and cover with a piece of lightly oiled clingfilm. Leave in a warm place to rise for 45 min-1 hour or until doubled in size.

Step 5 Meanwhile, deseed the red pepper and cut out some small slivers to use for the snakes’ tongues – keep these aside for later.

Step 6 Chop the black olives into small pieces for the snakes’ eyes and line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Step 7 Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC  (170ºC fan)

Step 8 Once the bread dough has doubled in size, knock out the air, knead until smooth and take the dough out of the bowl.  Divide the dough into 20g balls – you should have around 15.

Step 9 Use your hands to lightly oil a bamboo skewer. Take one ball of dough and use your fingers to gently roll the ball out into a rope. Twist the rope around the bamboo skewer to create a snake shape, pressing down one end with your thumb to make a round snake’s head.

Step 10 To decorate, firmly press in two pieces of olive for the eyes, then use the pointy end of another skewer to make a small hole for the mouth and press in a pepper sliver for the tongue. Once decorated, transfer them onto a baking tray.

Step 11 Continue until you have made all your snakes then brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with black sesame seeds and a pinch of salt.

Step 12 Bake for 18-20 min or until golden brown, puffed up and crispy. Then remove from the oven, let cool for 2-3 min then carefully remove the bamboo skewers (if they feel stuck, give them a gentle twist and they should loosen)

Make the tomato ‘blood’ dipping sauce

Step 1 Chop the rest of the pepper into bite-sized pieces. If using, finely chop the red chilli.

Step 2 Heat a saucepan over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the chopped pepper and chopped chilli with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Cook for 5-6 min or until starting to soften then add in the chopped tomatoes and continue to cook for a further 8-10 min or until thickened.

Step 3 Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.  Once cooled, add your sauce to a food processor and blitz until smooth.

Step 4 Serve the Marmite snakes with the tomato ‘blood’ dip, and why not try a Marmite Old Fashioned cocktail too!

What is Gousto?

Dinner, but not as you know it. Our big red recipe boxes will help you whip up wholesome, impressive meals no matter your skill level, with all of the flavour and none of the fuss.

From everyday favourites and ten minute meals, to global cuisines and healthy choices, you’ll have over 50 recipes to choose from each week from our menu. We’ll send you step-by-step recipes and all the fresh ingredients you need too. Just pick what you fancy for dinner, and leave the planning to us.