This is a fairly simple recipe, but putting it all together can be a bit challenging. Wrapping the date in the shrimp and then in the bacon requires at least 2 toothpicks. Also you want to bake these enough that the bacon is a crisp as possible, without burning the shrimp and date. These can be a bit hard to eat, but delicious and they have gone fast when I have taken them to friends or to church for the after church fellowship. Place them on a plate, with a small fork to serve. So give them a try. If you find a better way to make these, please let me know.
Shrimp Stuffed with Cheese Filled Date and wrapped in Bacon with a Pecan Glaze.
The date is stuffed with a savory cheese filling, then wrapped in a large shrimp that has been marinated in a glaze, then the entire piece is wrapped in bacon and baked.
Ingredients
Pecan Glaze
- ¼ cup Pecans finely chopped or quickly ground in a spice mill
- 1 TBPS unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup honey
- 1 TBPS Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup Apple juice pure
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cloves
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp ginger ground
- pinch sea salt
Shrimp
- 20+ 21/25 Jumbo shrimp
Cheese Filling
- ¼ cup Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- ½ tsp Old bay seasoning
- 1 tsp EVOO
- 1 tsp Lemon juice freshly squeezed
Dates
- 20+ Medjool dates
Final Assembly and cooking
- 20+ pieces Bacon
Instructions
Pecan Glaze
- In a sauce pan, place the pecan pieces and dry fry them until fragrant. Watch carefully to make sure they don't burn.
- Place the butter, maple syrup, honey, Dijon mustard, apple juice, cinamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger and salt in the sauce pan and mix well with the pecans. Bring to a low simmer
- Simmer for 5-10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
Shrimp
- Remove the shells, devein and remove the notocord (if you so desire). Leave the tails.
- Wash the shrimp and cut them in half the long ways, leaving the tail for a "handle".
- Place the shrimp in a gallon plastic bag, add enough of the pecan glaze to cover them and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to marinate. Marinate for at least 1 hour.
Cheese Filling
- Mix the mascarpone, Old Bay and EVOO in a small bowl. Set aside.
Dates and Stuffing
- Butterfly the dates and remove the pits.
- Place 1-2 tsp of the cheese stuffing inside the date and close it together. Set aside.
Final Assembly and Cooking
- Remove the shrimp from the marinade.
- Carefully wrap the shrimp around the date. I have found that putting a toothpick through the ends of the shrimp and into the tail works pretty well.
- Wrap a full piece of bacon around the shrimp/date. Use another tooth pick to secure the bacon.
- Coat with pecan glaze just before cooking. And coat once again during the cooking process.
- On a parchment covered cookie sheet, place the shrimp/date packets. Leave enough room between them so they will cook completely.
- Set the over at 350 degrees F. Bake the shrimp/date packets for about 25 minutes. They should begin to brown.
- Once they begin to brown, set the oven at broil, and broil the packets for 2-4 minutes. Watch then carefully to prevent burning of the tails. But you want the bacon to crisp up as much as possible.
- Once cooked, I remove the 2 toothpicks, and replace these with a decorative skewer, either metal or bamboo.
- Serve. These are filling so one per person will be quite a bite. But they are delicious.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
