This is an appetizer where you can't eat just one. It's one of my favorite holiday appetizers using dates and manchego cheese. It's easy and a fabulous combination of sweet and savory. Fontina cheese would be a good substitute if you can't find manchego.
Manchego Cheese is from the La Mancha region of Spain. I was first introduced to it on a trip there decades ago. It's made from the Manchega breed of Sheep. It's a semi-soft cheese with a mild, nutty, fruity, sweet, and tangy flavor. For me, that just translates into delicious. Medjool dates are soft dates also known to have health benefits for your heart, brain and gut. You usually find them in the produce section of your grocery store, especially this time of year. I also like to purchase them locally at specialty stores such as Sassool in Cary or Neomonde in Raleigh. Fontina Cheese is an alpine-style cheese more readily available in most markets.
Dates Stuffed with Manchego and Topped with Pistachios and Honey
Ingredients:
1 pound of Medjool Dates (approximately 30 dates)
6 ounces of Manchego cheese, cut into 1" X 1/2" strips
3-4 ounces of pistachios, salted and roasted
Drizzle of honey
Instructions:
Toast pistachios for 10-15 minutes in the oven at 325 degrees. Pull them out when they smell "toasty."
Use a paring knife, and make a slit down the center of one date.
Tuck a cheese strip inside the date, and repeat the same process for all 30 dates. Increase the to 350 degrees.
Place in a baking dish and warm in a 350-degree oven.
Remove from oven after cheese melts. Approximately 10 minutes.
Let it cool for 5 minutes, then drizzle it with honey and pistachios.
Dates are higher in calories so this is certainly not a low-calorie appetizer, but so worth it when you indulge.
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You can also create a cheese board with grapes, olives, extra pistachios, and crackers. And don't worry about a fancy cracker---Ritz-Crackers work fine and pair well with this cheese. Multigrain crackers are also a good choice.
Manchego also pairs with certain jams, which can be another appetizer using this cheese. Red Pepper, Hot Pepper jelly, or gourmet fig jam on a cracker topped with a piece of fontina cheese is delicious.
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