Impress your guests at your Halloween party with some tasty dishes. SOPHIE BROWNSON has these suggestions.

Planning on having a few people round for some Halloween fun? We've found some recipes to try out to ensure they don't go home disappointed.

Creamy Fenland celery soup with stilton cheese

Serves four (or six as a starter)

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

You’ll need:

1 oz butter or margarine

1 small or ½ medium celeriac, chopped

1 large leek, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 whole head of fresh Fenland celery with leaves, chopped (reserve some leaf for garnishing)

850 ml vegetable or chicken stock

150 ml milk

75g Stilton cheese

Salt and pepper

For the croutons:

1 small white loaf (1day old), cut into small cubes

2 tbsp olive oil

50g cheddar, grated

What to do:

Melt the butter or margarine and add the celeriac. Stir and then sweat for three to four minutes.

Add the leek and garlic and cook for a further three to four minutes and then add the chopped celery and stock. Gently simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes or until the celery is just soft. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Liquidise and then sieve if a smoother texture is desired. Stir in the milk and cheese and reheat until the cheese has dissolved, taking care not to let it boil.

Garnish with croutons and ½ tsp of finely chopped celery leaf.

If preferred the cheese can be omitted from the soup and garnished instead with the cheesy croutons for a less intense flavour.

Cheesy croutons: Mix the bread cubes, olive oil and grated cheese in a bowl. Scatter onto a baking tray and cook for 20 minutes at 180C/350F/Gas 5. Cook for another 10 minutes if not golden brown. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Creamy pasta bake with Godminster Cheddar, beetroot & smoked ham

Serves four

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

You’ll need:

375g dried pasta shapes, e.g. conchiglie, fusilli or penne

1 onion, finely chopped

50g unsalted butter

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tbsp plain flour

450ml milk

150ml double cream (or use extra milk for a less rich option)

150g Godminster classic cheddar, grated

200g piece smoked ham, torn into shreds

small bunch chives, snipped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

500g cooked beetroot (two packs), cut into 1cm cubes

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cook pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and reserve.

Set a heavy based saucepan over a low heat, sweat the onion in the butter for 10 to 15 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute before stirring through the flour.

Pour in milk and cream and bring up to the boil, stirring constantly until thickened. Simmer steadily for two to three minutes to cook the flour.

Turn off the heat, stir through half the cheese, the ham and chives. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Stir through the cooked pasta and beetroot and spoon into a baking dish. Scatter over the rest of the cheese and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.

Serve immediately, accompanied by a green salad.

Jerk pork and shallot skewers with pineapple salsa

Serves four

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 30 to 60 minutes marinating

Cooking time: 20 minutes

You’ll need:

Skewers:

650g pork steaks, cut into 2.5cm cubes (leg or shoulder)

12 shallots, peeled and cut in half

3 tbsp Bart Spices jerk rub

3 tbsp olive oil.

8 wooden kebab skewers, soaked in water for an hour to prevent burning

Salsa:

½ fresh pineapple, chopped into 1cm cubes

3 shallots, finely chopped

A handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped

Juice and zest of one lime

3 red chillies, deseeded and chopped

What to do:

Make a paste with the jerk rub by mixing it with the olive oil. Add the jerk paste to the cubed pork and shallots and mix thoroughly. Leave to marinate for a minimum of half an hour – an hour would be better if you had time.

While the pork and shallots are marinating, make the pineapple salsa by combining all the ingredients in a bowl. Leave to rest at room temperature to allow the flavours to develop.

When the marinating is finished, thread the shallots and pork alternately onto the skewers. Cook the skewers on a barbecue or grill pan on a high heat for a couple of minutes on each side until they are nicely coloured.

Move to a cooler part of the barbecue or turn the heat on the grill down and cook for further 10 to 15 minutes, turning regularly until the pork is cooked and the shallots are tender.

Serve with the pineapple salsa.

Spiced marmalade glazed pork ribs with fresh radish salad

Serves two

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

You’ll need:

6tbsp Streamline thick cut orange marmalade

1 star anise

Pinch dried chilli flakes

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Pinch of salt

8 pork spare ribs (depending on size)

6 radishes

1 orange

2tsp olive oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

½ bag washed watercress

Salt and black pepper

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/ 7gas.

In a small saucepan, heat the Streamline marmalade, star anise, chilli, garlic and Worcestershire sauce, add a good pinch of salt and stir till everything is warm and combined. Discard the star anise.

Put the ribs in a roasting dish and drizzle over the sauce (or use a pastry brush to paint the sauce all over the ribs if grilling on the barbecue).

Bake the ribs for 20 mins, turning and basting several times until the meat is cooked and the sauce is sticky.

While the ribs are cooking, slice the radishes then cut the skin and pith from the orange and slice into thin disks.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard and seasoning.

Put all the salad ingredients in a bowl and toss in the dressing. Serve with the sticky ribs.

Pink Lady chocolate apples

Makes: 6

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: two to four minutes (for the chocolate)

You will need:

100g chocolate, finely chopped (use milk, plain or white - or a mixture)

Six Pink Lady apples

Six long lollipop sticks (available at kitchen shops, online & some supermarkets)

What to do:

Add a few centimetres of water to a small saucepan and set on the hob over a medium heat and bring up to the boil.

Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl, using separate bowls for different colours of chocolate.

Once the water in the pan is boiling, set the bowl on top ensuring the base doesn’t actually touch the water. Turn off the heat and allow the chocolate to melt gently, stirring as it does so. If the chocolate has been finely chopped this should only take a minute or so.

Pierce the centre of each apple, just next to the stalk, and insert a lollipop stick in deep so that it feels firmly embedded. Line a baking sheet with a piece of greaseproof paper and spread the apples out on it.

Use a teaspoon to drizzle thin trails of chocolate around each apple, using the lollipop stick to twirl the apple to get an even coating all over. Set back on the tray and repeat with the other apples. Set aside somewhere cool to set.