For this week’s rather frustrating theme asking for a dish inspired by a video game, I took on a rather loose interpretation of “inspired by” and decided to make a killer duck pizza to honor Adult Swim’s super rad Duck Game.

This “frantic fowl-shooting four-player quacktion” won my heart immediately, despite my tendency to not survive the first 10 seconds of each round. Even still, that silly game is so much damn fun to play. If you haven’t yet, get it.

The resemblance my be lacking but the two are made of the same basic yummy stuff.

A little sweetness brings out the best of the duck’s personality so golden beets and parsnips make up the supporting toppings…

…plus a raspberry gastrique made with cider vinegar and Mancino vermouth.

In my second crockpot adventure, I tossed everything onto a low heat for 6 hours.

The lengthy cooking session may have leeched some vibrancy of color but the flavors are quite rich, especially with the duck fat soaking the root vegetables as they cooked.

The raspberry gastrique made up the base with fresh mozzarella to follow. After the beets, parsnips and duck went down another layer of mozzarella went on top to protect the precious duck followed by a spritz of balsamic vinegar for giggles.

The resulting pizza was fantastic. It was almost as good as playing the game itself, especially with getting to split the experience amongst 4 people.

And for once I didn’t fail miserably.

Meanwhile, Chinon rosé made for a delightful little pairing here. Refreshing and dry, the wine added a summertime charm to the wintery flavors.

On a second pass, the smell of duck definitely caught some canine attention. But there’s nothing new about that.