Duck Rillettes and Pinot-Soaked Wild Mushroom Pizza & Pinot Noir

Elevated comfort food with a pairing that couldn't be more perfect. Valentine's day date night = sorted.

Calling all food and wine nerds: You’re going to LOVE this one. Pick up a bottle of Pinot Noir (my recommendation is below!) and make this pizza for the perfect little Valentine’s Day date night!

The Wine Pairing

This decadent pizza combines three of the world’s best pinot noir pairings: Gruyère cheese, duck rillettes, and pinot noir soaked wild mushrooms, to create the ULTIMATE pinot pairing. Here’s why it works:

• Gruyère has a nutty, savory flavor with a creamy texture that complements Pinot Noir's red berry and earthy notes. The wine's bright acidity cuts through the creamy cheese, refreshing your palate and leaving you ready for another bite.

• Wild mushrooms already have an earthy, umami-packed flavour that matches the earthy aromas in Pinot Noir, but when they’re soaked in Pinot Noir, they soak up all the wine’s bright fruitiness and subtle spice, taking an already great pairing and making it even better!

• Duck rillettes is a decadent French spread made by slow-cooking duck meat in its own fat until tender, then shredding and mixing it with the fat. It’s rich and savory with a luscious, melt-in-your-mouth texture, and is SO DANG GOOD. Pinot Noir's acidity cuts through that fattiness beautifully, while its fruit flavour adds a juicy brightness to balance the intense earthy flavour.

My Recommendation

I paired this one with the Joie Farm 2021 “En Famille” Pinot Noir - An absolutely delicious, elegant, crowd-pleasing Pinot Noir from the Okanagan Valley’s Naramata Bench in BC (Canada). It has layers of ripe cherry and raspberry, balanced by earthy notes of forest floor and subtle floral and spice notes. It’s light-to-medium bodied with silky smooth tannins and bright palate-cleansing acidity. This wine couldn’t have been more perfect with this pizza and I highly recommend you give it a try!!

---

Recipe: Duck Rillettes and Pinot-Soaked Wild Mushroom Pizza

Serves: 4-6
Time: 30-45 minutes

Tools

• Rolling pin

• Parchment paper

• Pizza stone

• Pizza spatula

Ingredients

White Sauce

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp flour

• 1-2 garlic cloves, grated

• 1 small shallot, finely diced

• 1/2 cup 2% milk (+ more if needed for desired consistency)

• 1/4 cup full fat sour cream

• Juice from 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 cup Gruyère cheese, finely grated

• Salt and pepper to taste

Pinot-Soaked Wild Mushrooms

• 1 cup enoki mushrooms

• 1 cup oyster mushrooms, chopped

• 1/2 cup Pinot Noir

• Sea salt to taste

Pizza

• Pizza dough (storebought or homemade)

• 100g Duck Rillettes

• 1-2 cups mozzarella, shredded

• 1 cup Gruyère, shredded

Directions

1. Make the white sauce:

   1. Heat a small to medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil, followed by grated garlic and finely chopped shallots. Saute for 1 minute until fragrant, then add flour and mix well to form a thick paste (or roux).

   2. Stir for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour, then slowly add in the milk, sour cream, and lemon juice, stirring continuously until combined.

   3. Remove the pan from direct heat, add shredded Gruyère and stir continuously until smooth and cheese is melted. Taste and add salt and pepper to season as needed.

2. Make pinot-soaked wild mushrooms:

   1. Cut the Enoki mushrooms into individual stems and chop the oyster mushrooms.

   2. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms to a dry pan and sauté for approximately 10 minutes.

   3. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and sea salt to taste, cooking for another 1-2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with approximately 1/2 cup of Pinot Noir (ideally the one you’ll pair with the pizza) and add 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice.

   4. Cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until the wine has reduced and been absorbed by the mushrooms.

3. Prepare the pizza:

   1. Place your pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F.

   2. Roll or stretch out pizza dough to desired shape and place on a sheet of parchment paper. (Check out my fool-proof pizza method here!)

   3. Spread a thick layer of white sauce over the dough. Spread a layer of shredded mozzarella over the sauce, followed by pieces of duck rillettes and the pinot-soaked mushrooms. Top with more mozzarella and a layer of Gruyère cheese.

4. Cook the pizza:

   1. Transfer the pizza with the parchment paper to the oven and place it on the preheated pizza stone. Bake for 2 minutes, then remove the parchment paper. This is to ensure that the bottom crisps up nicely and the paper doesn’t burn!

   2. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and brown and the cheese is golden and bubbly. The exact time will vary depending on your oven and the dough you decide to use.

5. Remove the pizza from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing. Serve with a slightly chilled bottle of Pinot Noir, and ENJOY!