Tostada pizza (CPK copycat recipe)

I was obsessed with California Pizza Kitchen as a kid. I wanted to go there every month, and definitely on my birthday.

One of my favorite items on their menu was the Tostada Pizza: a delicious pie with Mexican flavors. It had a traditional pizza crust, topped with black beans, melted cheese, salsa, lettuce, ranch dressing, and crispy tortilla strips. They recently took it off their menu, but luckily, it’s pretty easy to recreate at home.

You start by kneading pizza dough and spreading it out on a 14″ baking sheet.

Then you make a black bean sauce by heating black beans, cumin, paprika, garlic, and chili lime salt and cooking over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

You top the pizza crust with the black bean sauce and shredded cheese and bake for about 20 minutes.

Then, top with salsa.

Finally, top with lettuce, a drizzle of ranch dressing, and tortilla strips (usually in the produce section or next to the salad dressing).

If you’re feeling fancy, you can also add hot sauce, diced avocado, green onions, cilantro, chopped jalapeños, or black olives.

Serve and eat immediately. This doesn’t keep well. It’s hard to reheat because of the lettuce.

This would be awesome for a game day or Super Bowl party!

Ingredients

• 16 ounces pizza dough, room temperature
• Olive oil or canola oil spray for greasing sheet pan
• 2 cans black beans
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili lime salt (I used Tajin)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 12 ounces shredded Mexican cheese
• 2 cups salsa (I used a fresh roasted tomato salsa from the grocery store)
• 2 cups romaine lettuce, finely chopped
• Ranch for drizzling

• 1 cup tortilla strips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 14 inch sheet pan using olive oil or an oil spray. Spread out pizza dough until it covers pan, kneading with your hands. Set aside.
3. Combine black beans, cumin, chili lime salt, garlic powder and paprika in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Mixture should be pretty thick.
4. Top pizza dough with black bean “sauce” and layer on shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted.
5. Using a spoon, spread salsa evenly over pizza, then top with lettuce. Drizzle a few tablespoons of ranch and top with tortilla strips. Serve immediately.