Bacon, Date, and Manchego Cheese Ball
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10
 
Ingredients
  • 3 dates, pitted
  • 5 strips applewood smoked bacon, cooked, cooled, and roughly chopped
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup freshly grated manchego cheese
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper (to taste)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • ½ cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, add bacon and dates and process briefly until finely chopped (dates will be sticky and paste-like, but you want bacon to be finely chopped).
  2. In a mixing bowl, stir or beat together softened cream cheese, manchego, and smoked paprika. Add bacon and date mixture, mixing until well combined. Form mixture into a ball (if you don't want to get your hands messy, you can do this by adding mixture to cling wrap and wrapping cling wrap around it, forming and rolling into a ball, then chilling for about 15 minutes before unwrapping and moving on to the next step).
  3. Add pecans to a plate, then roll formed cheeseball around and pressing gently to coat the outside evenly. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Recipe by Wright Family Table at https://www.wrightfamilytable.com/bacon-date-and-manchego-cheese-ball/