Cream Cheese Stuffed Prunes Wrapped in Bacon

For the past 10 years we've gotten together with some friends of ours for an annual Christmas dinner, alternating houses. Traditions are a great thing, as you can rely on them. Although we think the world of our friends, and always have a barrel full of laughs when we get together, we rarely have the opportunity to get together other times during the year. So I'm glad that at a minimum I have our trusty tradition to rely on.

The other great thing about traditions is they often beget other traditions. In this case, we've each established an appetizer that we serve at our respective houses when hosting. At our friend's house, the appetizer is this fantastic coconut shrimp recipe. You can find it at the Kraft kitchens website and it is delicious. At our house we make cream cheese stuff prunes wrapped in bacon.

This is one of those recipes where the first time I saw it about 15 years ago I wondered, who was drinking in the kitchen when they decided to put these ingredients together? But alas, don't knock it until you've tried it, it's fantastic. Since then, I've even seen several similar variations pop up.

The best thing about this recipe is its simplicity. The name says it all. It says all the ingredients, and pretty much tells you the method. Does it get any better?

Only when you taste them.

In case you need a bit more detail than just the name, here's the easy recipe.



Little Peasants
The first time I tried these was at a Peruvian restaurant and they were called Little Peasants. I'm not sure if this is an authentic name, but it's kinda cute.
12 pitted prunes
1 250g pkg cream cheese (you can use light, but don't use the softened kind)
12 slices bacon (if they are extra long, go with 6 cut in half)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Slice each prune in half, but not quite cutting right through.
Cut the block of cream cheese into 12 equal portions
Squish the cream cheese into each prune and mold to be a bit rounded. Wrap with the bacon, leaving the end pieces to meet underneath the prune. Place in a casserole dish and back for 20-25 minutes until bacon is cooked