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Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Manchego

Recipe by Chef Nico Rossi

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Medjool dates stuffed with aged Manchego, wrapped in bacon and roasted until the bacon crisps and the dates go molten.

  • Total Time0 hours
  • Yield24 pieces, serves 8 to 10. 1x

Ingredients

Scale

BACON-WRAPPED DATES

  • 24 Medjool dates, pitted
  • 4 oz aged Manchego, cut into small batons
  • 12 slices thin-cut bacon, halved crosswise
  • 24 toothpicks

TO FINISH

  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tbsp chopped rosemary

Instructions

  1. PREP THE DATES Heat the oven to 400°F and line a sheet pan with foil, then set a wire rack inside it. Slit each date lengthwise without cutting through, and remove the pit if not already pitted.
  2. STUFF Press a baton of Manchego into each date and pinch the date closed around it. Do not overfill, as cheese that sits proud of the date will run out and burn on the pan.
  3. WRAP Wrap each stuffed date in a half slice of bacon, overlapping slightly. Secure with a toothpick pushed straight through. Arrange seam side down on the rack with space between each.
  4. ROAST Roast 20 to 25 minutes, turning once at the halfway point. They are ready when the bacon is crisp on all sides and the dates have softened.
  5. FINISH AND SERVE Rest 5 minutes, as the filling is molten straight from the oven. Drizzle with honey and finish with flaky salt, cracked pepper, and chopped rosemary. Serve warm.

Notes

Cooling / resting: Rest 5 minutes before serving, as the filling is molten.

SAFETY NOTES

Cook the bacon until crisp on all sides, ensuring the pork is fully rendered and cooked through.
Keep raw bacon refrigerated until wrapping, and wash hands, boards, and tools after handling.
This recipe contains pork and dairy. Note both when serving guests with allergies.
The filling is molten straight from the oven and causes burns. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Count the toothpicks out and back if children are present, and use a small dish on the buffet for discarded picks.
Hold above 140°F on the buffet and pull after 2 hours out. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and use within 3 days.

CHEF NICO’S NOTES

Make-ahead and hold: assemble up to a day ahead, cover, and refrigerate raw. Roast straight from the refrigerator, adding 3 to 4 minutes.
Thin-cut bacon only. Thick-cut will not crisp before the dates collapse, and you end up with a soft, fatty wrap.
Roast on a rack, not directly on the pan. It lets the fat drain and the underside crisp instead of frying in a pool of grease.
Do not overfill with cheese. It runs out, burns onto the pan, and you lose the molten center that makes these work.
Manchego over blue cheese for a mixed crowd. Blue is the classic pairing but it divides a room, and Manchego is nutty enough to hold its own.
Honey and flaky salt at the end, never before roasting. Honey on the way into a 400°F oven turns black.

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes active prep.
  • Cook Time: About 25 minutes.
  • Category: Appetizer

Find it online: https://land2shore.com/bacon-wrapped-dates-with-manchego-and-honey/