I may cook the main dishes in the house, but my wife Veronica is all about the appetizers. One of her favorite things to make for a party is bacon wrapped dates with goat cheese. This recipe is perfect for the holidays since it uses only three ingredients: Dates, Bacon and Cheese!To make this more of an authentic Spanish Dátiles con Tocino, you can switch out the goat cheese with manchego & iberico cheeses. A local Spanish restaurant here in Orange County called Vaca uses blue cheese in place of the goat cheese, and then drizzles it with a local honey.
16slicesthin applewood smoked baconeach sliced in half
32dates
8ouncesgoat cheese
For Dátiles con Tocino
8ouncesmanchego & iberico cheeses instead of the goat cheese
Local honeyfor drizzling
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350-375 degrees F.
Slice the dates to create an opening and remove the pits.
Place a small amount of goat cheese into each date and press the date together slightly to contain the cheese.
Wrap each date with a 1/2 slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Make sure you only go around with the bacon 1 1/2 times or it won't cook properly. Trim the bacon as needed so it isn't too thick around the date. Thin slices of bacon work best for this recipe.
Arrange the dates evenly on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes.
Turn the dates over and bake for another 5 minutes. Repeat until they are browned and bubbly.
Remove dates from oven and transfer to a paper-towel lined platter for service.