Original recipe of the week: Blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in Parma ham

Finger food is the best type of food when it comes to the party season. Whether it is for a dinner party starter, canapés or a tapas style dinner… it works.

The combination of rich ham, sweet dates and the salty blue cheese will let off a taste explosion in your mouth like no other. Either eat cold, or warm through in the oven for five minutes or so for an extra-indulgent treat.

Presentation wise: display on a platter adorned with fresh parsley, whole dates, lemon wedges and dusted with crushed pistachios.

Blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in Parma ham

Serves 4-6

Prep time/cook time: 5-10 minutes

What you will need:

1 pack of fresh Medjool Dates
150g Blue cheese of your choice (we suggest Saint Agur or Roquefort)
2 packs of Parma ham

What you need to do:

1. First you need to take the cheese out of the packet and place into a bowl. Give this a mash-up with a fork to loosen the texture to enable you to stuff into the dates.

2. Next remove the dates and all of the stones from inside by making a slit in the centre.

3. Make sure that the slit in the centre is big enough to stuff each date. Fill each hole with the cheese.

4. When all dates are stuffed you can start to wrap in the ham.

5. The easiest way to do this is remove a slice of ham from the pack and place on a clean surface. Place the stuffed date at one end of the ham slice and wrap round. Continue to roll until all of the ham is wrapped around the date.

6. You can eat the stuffed dates straight away like this, or simply place in a hot oven for around five minutes so that the ham crisps up and the cheese melts slightly.

7. Now all you need to do is serve how you wish, and enjoy.

Bethany Stone