Duck Pizza with Hoisin and Scallions

Ankle sprains are absolutely dreadful. To make the timing even better, I had to fly to Dallas the next day for my sister’s graduation. I was just warming up for taekwondo (never even making it to the actual kicking) when I turned my ankle in first five minutes. Bam! Redness and swelling and horrible pain like I never felt before. It steadily worsened until I couldn’t walk 3 feet or even sleep without literally crying from pain.

Luckily, my awesome chief resident had extra crutches and a boot for me, so I could actually hobble along with rounding on the patients.

And then, although my original flight to Dallas was delayed, I managed to get standby on a flight even earlier than my original flight.

And I thought to myself, no way on earth am I willing to wear a boot and crutches for all the photos and family portraits we were taking over the weekend, and my ankle swelling and redness nearly disappeared the next day (vanity is a powerful analgesic, especially when you really want to wear heels).

My friends say I have a knack for always getting what I want. Well, ask and you shall receive! I won’t deny I’e been blessed in often getting what I want (with hard work of course). Except…. perfect pizza dough. I begged my sourdough starter for fluffy yet crisp pizza crust, yet was denied half a dozen times. I got lots of bread that tasted like bricks.

Well, I finally got what I wanted. This pizza crust was perfect. The trick is letting the dough rise one last time right before adding toppings and baking so it’s ultra light.

I’ve been wanting to make a duck pizza ever since I had it in a restaurant in Palo Alto years ago. It’s the perfect gourmet pizza that’s easy and fancy. Adapted from Epicurious.

Duck Pizza with Hoisin and Scallions

Ingredients
SOURDOUGH PIZZA DOUGH:
1 1/2 cups fed sourdough starter, room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups flour (I use 50/50 whole wheat/all purpose)

PIZZA TOPPINGS:
roasted duck, meat removed from bone
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

Directions
PIZZA CRUST: Combine the sourdough bread starter, flour, salt and olive oil and mix until it forms a dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes until it forms a tight ball and place inside oiled bowl. Rest in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.

Take out the dough and rest in a warm area for a few hours, until doubled. Punch down dough again. Roll and shape dough into final pizza crust on pan and rest in a warm area until risen and fluffy. Use in any pizza recipe

PIZZA:  Heat oven to 500°F or as hot as the oven will go.

Prepare dough into disks and place on parchment paper on a pan. Spread half the hoisin sauce on crust with a pastry brush. Bake for 8-10 minutes (this is to bake the bread without overcooking the roasted duck meat). Remove half baked pizza and top with remaining hoisin sauce, spinach, cheese, bell pepper and duck. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes, until bread is golden and crispy, and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove and garnish with scallions and sesame seeds. Slice and serve.