ko.pairings
Bacon wrapped dates are blissful little bites. Now add some goat cheese, pumpkin and sage and you have an insane bite, in all the best ways. An amazing addition to any party, try this fall inspired date stuffed with a delicious pumpkin & sage goat cheese.
I LOVE bacon wrapped dates. They are an incredible combination of sweet and salty. Just like Peanut Butter And Jelly or Banana, chocolate and nuts or pretzels, salted caramel, honestly even salty fries and ketchup. Sweet and salty flavor combinations provide balance between the ingredients. So bacon wrapped dates just make sense. Add the fact that you get to stuff them to enhance the flavor even more?! What could be better??? OH, and this recipe is 5 ingredients (not including salt and pepper), talk about simple!!
I also love bringing them as holiday appetizers because they look fancy, elegant and like they are difficult to make! Honestly, they take a little while to bake, but rolling and stuffing them couldn’t be easier. Buy pitted dates to take out a step out of the process! Then roll in a half strip of bacon, place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake. That is it! I get a little fancier and make a goat cheese spread for the inside of the dates, but you could use plain goat cheese, a flavored goat cheese or an almond with sage. Full disclosure, I have not dried those other combinations with the drink pairing, but I think they will all still work.
I describe some changes below to adjust to dietary preferences, because it is easy enough to adjust to what you and/or your guests/loved ones want to eat! Full disclosure, I have not tried the recipe with other types of bacon, bu it should work. The flavor will end up slightly different, but go with your dietary preferences/restrictions. However you make them, do not forget to serve with the Maple Ginger Whiskey Sour. The cocktail enhances the flavors of the dish while bringing in a beautiful refreshing quality.
Food and drink just should go together, and I love making easy fancy things fancier with a cocktail. For a description of why Pumpkin Sage Goat Cheese Bacon Wrapped Dates pair with the Maple Ginger Whiskey Sour, head to the cocktail recipe.
Recipe Notes & Substitutions:
- Dates– Use medjool dates for this recipe. Medjool dates are actually a fresh fruit native to Morocco and grow in desert climates.1 In the US they grow in parts of Arizona and California. They are used in all kinds of recipes from baking to cooking to add sweetness. They do have a lot of sugars, but they are natural. They contain a plethora of other vitamins, minerals and fiber. You could try other varieties, but they won’t turn out the same. Medjool dates are larger and softer than other date varieties. Medjool dates also taste like caramel and have a beautiful creamy texture that is perfect for this recipe.
- Bacon– Use whatever bacon you like! I recommend a thinner cut bacon not a thick cut bacon. Thinner bacon allows all the ingredients have a chance to shine. Too thick bacon will overwhelm everything and the pumpkin won’t shine through as nicely. If you use thicker cut bacon, increase the cooking time or pre-cook the bacon. This can be done in the oven or frying the bacon wrapped dates in a pan to crisp up before baking. If you want to use turkey bacon or vegan bacon, have at it! The recipe will still work, but cooking times may need to be adjusted. If you do you vegan bacon make sure you can wrap it around the date. Bacon chunks will not work, the date needs the fat while cooking to keep it from drying out.
- Goat Cheese– The recipe uses plain goat cheese, but herbed goat cheese would also work. If you use an herbed goat cheese you can leave out the sage if you’d like. With plain goat cheese keep the sage, you need an herbal presence for added balance. If you want to make this paleo or vegan, use a cashew cheese spread. When substituting, taste the cashew cheese and make sure there is a tang to it. If your cashew spread needs the tang, add a little apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and mix it with the cashew cheese.
- Pumpkin Puree– Feel free to make your own from a roasted pumpkin, but I used canned pumpkin. This is a perfect recipe when you have a bit of pumpkin puree leftover from another recipe. Otherwise, use the rest of the puree in another recipe like pie or muffins or as a pasta sauce. Please Note: This is NOT pumpkin pie mix, this is plain pumpkin puree. You can also substitute butternut squash puree for a delicious twist.
- Sage– Use sage, use thyme, use another herb, just make sure you use an herb. The bitter, earthiness is needed! Sage and pumpkin are perfect matches (like dates and bacon) and the sage pairs incredibly with the cocktail. You can either chop up the sage and mix it with the goat cheese or put a leaf in between the bacon and the date so the bacon fat crips up the sage leaf. Both ways work and are delicious.
Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed Sage Pumpkin Goat Cheese
Equipment
- 1 Foil lined Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 10 strips Bacon
- 20 Dates Pitted
- 5 oz Goat Cheese
- 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
- 20 leaves Sage
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 425oF and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Remove pits from dates if not already done and cut the strips of bacon in half and set aside.
- Into a bowl, add the pumpkin puree and goat cheese and stir to combine. Taste, then add salt and pepper as needed. Once satisfied with the flavor, set aside.
- Stuff the goat cheese mixture into the medjool date, depending on the size of your dates you can fit about 1-1.5 tsp of filling into the dates. Then close the date to keep the filling inside, add a piece of sage on top and roll in a half a strip of bacon. Place seam down on the bacon tray to keep the bacon on the date while cooking. If you’d like to add a toothpick to hold the bacon in place but this is not necessary.
- Finish stuffing and rolling the dates in bacon and place on the baking sheet. Make sure to leave some space on the tray for the bacon to get crispy.
- Then put the baking tray in the pre-heated oven for about 15-18 minutes, turning over after 9 minutes to get the other side of the bacon crispy.
- Remove the pan from the oven once bacon is cooked and let cool before serving.
- Pair with my take on a ginger, maple, whiskey sour.
References
- “Medjool Date Palm”. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
