Smoky Jalapeno Poppers with Pomegranate-Quince Reduction

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place an oven-safe baking rack on top of the foil.
• Slice each pepper in half lengthwise and clean out the ribs and seeds. Rinse the peppers in water to remove any stubborn seeds.
• In a food processor pulse your smoked cheese until crumbly and fine, add in the cream cheese and a drizzle of AOOC Baklouti Green Chili or EVOO. Pulse until smooth.
• Trim any excess fat from your bacon, this will help to keep this from being over saturated with fat and will give it a nice crisp. Cut your strips in half so you have 20 small strips.
• Fill each pepper with approximately 1 tablespoon of the filling. Depending on the size of your peppers you may need a little more or less, so wait to wrap them with the bacon until you’ve filled them. That way, if you need to steal some filling from one to top off another you can do that.
• Once all of the peppers are filled with cheese, wrap each with a piece of bacon. I like to wrap them so the ends of the bacon meet underneath the pepper. That way the peppers stay wrapped while they bake. If you’re worried you can always secure the bacon with toothpicks – just remember to remove them when you serve the poppers.
• Place the bacon-wrapped peppers on top of the baking rack. While they bake the bacon fat will drip into the baking sheet and your poppers won’t get soggy sitting in the grease.
• Bake the poppers for 20 to 25 minutes or until the bacon is cooked through and crispy.