Bacon-wrapped Dates

Who: Chef Marc Vidal, Executive Chef of Boqueria in NYC and Washington, D.C.

Instagram: @MarcVidalChef

Chef Vidal’s Guest-Worthy Recipe: Datiles con beicon (bacon-wrapped dates)

Why?

“You only need four ingredients for these simple crowd-pleasers. We first served these at Boqueria over 10 years ago at our first friends and family pre-opening meal. Every single diner raved about them the first night. They’re a great party dish because they’re so quick to prepare, and you can make as many as you want! Just pop them in the oven when you’re ready to serve.”

Ingredients:

Medjool dates

Marcona almonds, roasted and salted

Valdeón cheese, or other mild creamy blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola

Applewood-smoked bacon (1⁄2 slice per date)

Small skewers (1 for every 3 dates); soak the skewers in water for at least 30 minutes

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line a half sheet pan with foil.

Cut a slit lengthwise in a date and pull out the pit. Put one almond inside the date, then spread a half-teaspoon of cheese in the cavity. Close the date around the stuffing, completely sealing the edges as tightly as possible by pressing the cut edges of the date together. Wrap half a slice of bacon tightly around the date; the slice should overlap itself by at least one full rotation. Repeat to make as many as you’d like.

Place three bacon-wrapped dates side by side, close together. Insert a skewer through them. Repeat with the remaining bacon-wrapped dates.

Place the skewers on the prepared pan, spacing them an inch apart.

Bake, turning once, until the bacon is evenly browned and its fat is rendered, about 12 minutes each side.