One of the signature pizzas at California Pizza Kitchen is their BBQ chicken pizza.  This pizza is a vegetarian version of that adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit.  It makes one 12-inch pizza which will serve about 3 people as a main course.  The original recipe called for 16 oz. of store-bought pizza dough, but I used Pizza for Many or For One – Keto Version.  A batch of this dough intended for 4 servings makes 24 oz. of dough.  I used 16 oz. of that last night for the pizza and I plan to use the remaining 8 oz. tonight for a bread to go with dinner.

This pizza is baked in 2 stages, which is unusual but worked very well.  First the crust is baked for about 5 minutes to set it, and then the toppings are added, and the pizza goes back in the oven a second time, and finally it is briefly broiled.

Other than the time related to the dough (zero if store bought), this takes less than an hour.

6 oz. mixed mushrooms (~3.5 cups) roughly cut or torn

2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

16 oz. pizza dough at room temperature

1/3 cup barbeque sauce, plus more for drizzling

6 oz. fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated

2 oz. smoked gouda, coarsely grated

½ medium red onion, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and black pepper

Crushed red pepper flakes (or Aleppo pepper) and chopped fresh cilantro as a garnish

Put a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 475 degrees.

Put the mushrooms in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to coat the mushrooms.

Put 2 Tbs. of olive oil in a 12-inch cast iron skillet.  Tilt the pan to coat the bottom and an inch up the sides.  Put the dough in the pan and spread it to fully cover the bottom of the pan.  If it resists, spread it as much as you can, cover with a clean kitchen towel, rest it for 10 minutes and stretch it a second time.

Bake the pizza dough in the oven for 5 minutes, until set but not browned.

Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven.  Spread the 1/3 cup of barbeque sauce over the pizza.  Then add in order the cheeses, sliced red onion, and mushrooms.  Season with kosher salt and black pepper.

Return to the oven and bake for 16-20 minutes until the crust and the mushrooms are golden, and the cheese is melted.

Turn the oven up to broil and cook for another 1-2 minutes until the mushrooms are browned and crispy and the cheese is browned in spots.

Remove the pizza from the oven and garnish with the pepper flakes and cilantro.  Drizzle as desired with additional barbeque sauce and serve.