I Love Bacon

I have said it before, I will say it to my dying day: bacon is heaven on earth and the best way to make new friends at a party.

Last Friday our wine tasting group got together for a blind tasting at Rick and Heather's house. The theme was small plates/tapas, so I decided to make some marinated Manchego and some Bacon Wrapped Dates. Turns out Ann also made dates wrapped in bacon, so there was plenty to go around (and I didn't hear anyone complaining).

I took some short cuts on mine. I didn't use Medjool dates; I wanted them to be smaller. I didn't stuff the dates with the chorizo like the original recipe called for; I used fully cooked Portuguese sausage instead.

Bacon Wrapped Dates with Sausage

1 package thin-sliced bacon
1/4 - 1/2 package fully cooked Portuguese sausage, cut in slices and then halved
20-30 dates

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Cut each bacon strip crosswise into 3 pieces.

Place one half-slice of sausage on end of bacon.
Gently flatten one date on top of sausage slice.


Wrap bacon around date and sausage slice and place seam down on baking sheet.

I made just enough to fill a baking sheet and still had a few slices of bacon left over.


Bake for 15-20 minutes or until nice and brown. Drain on papertowels and try not to eat them all before you take them to your dinner party.


This recipe is very flexible and has a lot of options for variation. Ann used the larger Medjool dates and stuffed them with chevre and then wrapped them in the bacon. Hers were creamy in the middle, while mine were chewier. Yum.