A Ducky Pizza

Of all the things on the evenings book club menu apparently these little duck pizzas won by popular demand.  Of course, I find that understandable because who can resist anything that comes as a pizza?  I know my favorite pizza (before the restaurant closed that is) was the Chef's Gone Mad special at Royal Pizza, a mountainous combination of spaghetti, meatballs and layers of melted mozzarella cheese.  This concoction might sound gross, which is what I thought prior to the night I was brave enough to try it, but it was great.  But I digress.   

The only picture I had was of the pizzas in the dressing room because I got distracted and forgot to take a picture when they came out of the oven.  So you'll just have to imagine them with bubbly cheese and a frizzled green onion garnish.  Pretty huh?    

I owe my last boss credit for giving me the idea for this combination.  We were good food buddies and would often swap stories, recipes and restaurant recommendations during our work week.  I talked about cookbooks and restaurants, while her stories often revolved around weekend family get togethers where her adventurous brother would make some fantastic meal.  One weekend in particular she was being sent by her brother to collect a crispy duck from Chinatown for crispy duck pizza night.   
Being an amateur duck enthusiast I'd never eaten crispy duck before (okay so I'd never even heard of it) so my boss took pity on me and let me try a mouthwatering morsel and I still remember it as my most fond fowl experience.  I was hooked.   

The Chinese theme was therefore a welcome one, providing me the perfect chance to create a crispy duck pizza of my own.  I probably could have made the duck myself, but I took mercy on the rest of the people living in the condo building and decided not to smoke us all out.  Plus why mess with what Gee Gong already does so well.  So, off I went to Gee Gong's Restaurant on 206 Centre Street SE, where I purchased my duck and an equally delicious piece of bbq pork.

Caramelized Onion and Sweet Soy Tomato Sauce:

1/2 large sweet onion, sliced
1/2 can cherry tomatoes
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp duck juice (comes with the duck) or use beef stock
sweet soy sauce to taste
five-spice powder to taste
salt and pepper

Add 3 tbsp of olive oil to a medium saute pan over medium low heat.  Add the sliced onion and cover stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Once onions are browned move to a blender with the tomatoes and blend until smooth.  Once blended pour back into pan over medium heat and add the remaining ingredients.  Simmer the sauce for a further 10 minutes adding water if it gets too dry.   Refrigerate until needed.

Sweet Crispy Duck Pizza:

I wanted the duck to be crispy and sweet so after removing the bones I tossed it with orange blossom honey and baked it again before putting it on the pizza.   

1 whole duck, minus a few stolen nibbles from the drive home, deboned and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
orange blossom honey to taste

1 pkg flour tortilla shells - cut into 25 - 4 inch rounds
oil for frying

1 recipe of Caramelized Onion & Sweet Soy Tomato sauce (above)
1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

To prepare the duck toss it with a generous drizzle of honey and taste.  The duck should be noticeably sweet.  Bake at 350 F until sizzling, watch it closely to prevent burning. 

To prepare the pizza shells, cut two 4 inch disks from the 8 inch tortillas to total  25 or 26 shells.  Shallow fry the disks in oil until golden and crispy and then remove from oil and drain on paper towels.   Be careful these brown quickly.

To prepare the pizzas spread a spoonful of tomato sauce on the shell, add the sweetened crispy duck and sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 F until the cheese has melted.   Serve  hot. 

 

 

Comments

[MM]

Oh my ... that looks incredibly delectable! Fab!

[Liz]

Thanks MM! I hope you get the chance to give it a try. Crispy duck WILL change your life. :o)

Liz

[Gabriella True]

Divine. I am TOTALLY going to make this. I will let you know how I like it. I am always looking for fancy bite size disshes for my club's meetings.

http://mylifeasareluctanthousewife.blogspot.com/

[Liz]

Hey Gabriella True! I'm so excited that you're going to try these. Absolutely let me know how it goes. I can't wait for the next time I have the chance to make them, but since I share my abode with a wimpy eater it'll probably be awhile.

Liz