Duck Bacon

Duck bacon. I can tell already that you’re excited. People who read food blogs simply can’t read a sentence that contains the words “duck” and “bacon” without getting a little bit hungry.

I’d seen this duck bacon at the grocery store a few times, but had never been able to pull the trigger. My folks were coming for Mother’s Day when I saw it again, however, and I figured company was the perfect excuse to give this seemingly absurd creation a try. Before you get too worked up, however, realize that it isn’t really bacon. It’s cured (and smoked, maybe?) duck breast, complete with that signature layer of fat, that’s been sliced to look kinda like bacon. You cook it the same way as bacon, and it comes out crispy, fatty and very flavorful. At the end of the day, however, it’s not pig bacon.

At Mother’s Day brunch, I served it with Sweet Potato Waffles, which was a great pairing, just as regular bacon would be, although probably not as tasty as regular bacon.

I had a few pieces left over, so I pulled them out of the freezer to add a bit of flair to this pizza, which also included zucchini (my favorite pizza topping), and a mix of Maplebrook Smoked Mozzarella & regular mozzarella. Smoked cheese is wonderful on pizza because it has a strong flavor and thus requires less to add great taste and aroma.

Duck Bacon, Zucchini, Grape Tomatoes & Smoked Mozzerella

Ingredients:

• 16oz pizza dough (I used Wegman’s Whole Wheat – not my favorite, but convenient)
• Smoked Mozzarella, shredded
• Fresh Mozzarella, shredded (tip: freeze fresh mozz for about an hour to make for easier shredding)
• Tomato Sauce of your choice
• Half a large Zucchini, sliced as thinly as possible
• Handful of grape tomatoes, sliced thinly lengthwise
• 3-4 pieces duck bacon

Refer to my basic pizza technique for my haphazard cooking instructions. A couple additional notes:

• I brushed the dough lightly with duck fat from the pan, because I’m crazy like that.
• Slicing the veggies ultra thin ensures that they cook thoroughly in the oven. Another option is to briefly saute them before cooking the pie.