As I love the festive season it felt entirely appropriate to create a series of recipes that celebrate the Christmas films many of us know and love. One of the most deeply loved Christmas films deserves to kick things off. There’s no better way to watch Home Alone than to sit back and enjoy a lovely cheese pizza just for me.
Contents
The Bake
You can probably guess where my inspiration for this bake came from, right?
Kevin’s cheese pizza is as much a key character as it is a delicious meal, let’s be real. From the scene where Kevin finds that out no one left any cheese pizza for him, to the pizzas he orders when his family have left him home alone.
Which introduces us to the iconic pizza delivery scenes.
Pizza is a proper night in dish. Real comfort food. Which is what made putting together this recipe even more fun.
In case you haven’t put two and two together…
The inspiration behind this particular recipe is Kevin’s quote: “a lovely cheese pizza just for me”.
So, this pizza is exactly that. A lovely cheese pizza.
If you’ve ever looked up how to make a pizza from scratch, you’ll notice that a number of recipes will provide you with a method that involves giving the dough adequate time to rise.
This is obviously fine if you have the time. But, if you want to have a spontaneous pizza night and make your own base, you don’t necessarily want to be preparing for it hours ahead of time.
It’s less spontaneous, that way. Not really the idea. Plus, homemade pizza is top tier and should be accessible!
That’s why I based my recipe on this fantastically quick one by Tamsin Burnett-Hall for Sainsbury’s. It shows you that a pizza base can be made with minimal kneading and proving time. Perfect for that spontaneous pizza night, wouldn’t you say?
I adapted the ingredients and method to suit the sheer size of my Home Alone inspired pizza.
The key for a good, well baked base is to make sure your oven is up high and whatever tray you are using is in there preheating.
If you have a pizza oven, now is the time to utilise it! If, like me, you are not equipped with a pizza oven, prepare a large round baking or pizza tray if you have one. I don’t have one of those either and I usually bake my pizzas directly on a removable shelf. You could also use pizza stones if you have those!
Although this recipe is for a lovely cheese pizza just for me, it is HUGE. It can definitely feed up to four. Especially as the base is beautifully thick and fluffy.
Home Alone is set in Chicago, so a thick base made sense.
But, if you prefer a thin crust, you can split this dough into multiple smaller and ultimately thinner pizza bases. It’s super easy to adapt to your preferences.
As is the pizza sauce! The sauce I used in this recipe is similar to the one I made for my Good Will Hunting pizza pastries. With some slight adjustments, of course.
One adjustment being the swap out of light brown sugar for dark brown sugar. It sounds like a very minor change, but a dark brown sugar provides a deeper caramelisation and, ultimately, a richer flavour.
It can be seasoned to taste, naturally. But, it can also be sweetened or made more savoury based on your own taste. This is what makes cooking your own pizza sauce so rewarding. You can get it just right for you. A lovely cheese pizza just for me, remember?
On the topic of cheese, I used two different types on this pizza.
A grated mozzarella and cheddar mix. This combo didn’t overshadow the sauce which I really liked. However, if you like a strong cheese on your pizza, feel free to mix it up.
Obviously, mozzarella is a classic. But, you can go for anything that you enjoy. It’s your pizza. Go wild! Kevin would approve of whatever you choose, I’m sure.
Lastly, just to give my Home Alone pizza that added festive flare, I sprayed it with edible glitter. It doesn’t change the flavour whatsoever, but it does give it that Christmas-y sparkle.
Top Tips
- This pizza dough is massive and will make a massive pizza. You can make the dough and split it up into two or four pieces to make smaller pizzas with.
- The dough doesn’t need long to rise at all, which is what makes this the ideal make-your-own pizza night. Don’t feel like you need to leave it for longer to prove, though you definitely can if needed. The five or so minutes is not a make or break with this dough.
- This sauce is honestly unreal. But, you can obviously adapt to taste as you make it. Taste as you go with a clean spoon each for each dip.
- Top this pizza with your favourite pizza cheeses and toppings. Or, simply leave it as a classic tomato and cheese. It really hits the spot when your craving is for this classic combo.
- If you have pizza stones, utilise them here! Otherwise, slide the pizza dough straight onto a shelf in your oven to get a properly nice crispy under side.
There it is, friends. A lovely cheese pizza just for me from Home Alone. It’s a massive pizza fit for a movie viewing or small Christmas party. A quick and easy dough with a quick and easy sauce. Enjoy!
Happy baking, happy eating!
The Recipe
Ingredients
A lovely cheese pizza just for me base:
- 750g [4½ cups + 3 tbsp] strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
- 14g [2 sachets/1 tbsp] fast action dried yeast
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3½ tbsp olive oil
- 400ml [14 oz] water
Sauce:
- 1 red onion diced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 3 tsp dried Italian herbs or oregano
- Sprinkle of dark brown sugar
- 450g [2 tins or around 16 oz] chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 5 tbsp tomato puree
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Toppings:
- Cheeses of your choice to top (I used mozzarella and cheddar)
- Edible glitter optional
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Proving time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Method
A lovely cheese pizza just for me base:
- Preheat your oven to 240°C [460°F] or 220°C fan. If using, place a pizza/baking tray or pizza stones in the oven to heat up while you make your dough. Otherwise, make sure your removable shelf is already in the oven heating up.
- In a large bowl, sieve in the flour.
- Add the yeast to one side and the salt to the other side.
- Sprinkle in the sugar and mix everything together for an even distribution.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil.
- Pour in the water and use a fork to bring everything together into a shaggy dough.
- On a clean and lightly floured work surface, knead your dough until it is smooth and shiny. This should take around 5 minutes.
- Lightly flour the surface again and lay your dough ball on it.
- Turn your large bowl upside down and place it over your dough like a dome so it can start rising.
Sauce:
- While your dough is rising, make your sauce.
- In a saucepan over a medium heat, add some oil and fry off the diced onion.
- Add the garlic, herbs and dark brown sugar. Allow to caramelise.
- Pour in the tomatoes or sauce. Add the Worcestershire sauce and stir in.
- Squeeze in the tomato puree and stir in.
- Season to taste and adapt from here – add seasoning/herbs/sugar to taste.
- Allow to simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When ready, take off the heat.
Construction:
- Time to shape your dough!
- Remove the bowl from over the top of your dough. Stretch the dough slightly and roll it out to a large circular shape with a rolling pin.
- Carefully lift the dough onto a large sheet of baking parchment/greaseproof paper.
- Create a thick crust by rolling the dough in around the edge and pinching where needed.
- Remove a shelf/tray/stone from the hot oven and slide the baking parchment with your dough onto the shelf/tray/stone.
- Bake your dough base until it has risen slightly and is just starting to colour. The surface will feel dryer when you touch it. This will take around 5 minutes.
- Once your base has mostly baked, remove it from the oven, keeping it on the tray/stone/shelf.
- Turn the oven down to 220°C [430°F] or 200°C.
- Spread the sauce over the dough, right up to the crust.
- Sprinkle over your chosen cheese. Make it as cheesy as you want!
- Slide back into the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes or until there is a nice golden colour on the crust and the cheese has a slight crisp to it.
- Once baked, leave for a few moments before spraying with edible glitter and cutting.
A lovely cheese pizza just for me… beautiful. This delicious Home Alone inspired dish is best eaten once baked and slightly cooled. But, it will still be tasty cold the next day. Enjoy!
The Film
As mentioned above, I absolutely love this time of year. The lights; the decorations, the food, the love. Just the thought of snuggling up in a blanket with a hot chocolate in hand and a Christmas film on the TV is enough to warm the cockles of my heart.
Even when I’ve spent this time of year abroad, I’ve always found time to watch my core favourite holiday films. I have vivid memories of sitting on the floor outside my hotel room in Tokyo with Home Alone playing on my laptop while the lovely housekeeping staff did their thing.
Which is why Home Alone is the film I have chosen to kick this festive series of recipes off.
Picture it: cinemas in 1990 are hit with an eight year old troublemaker that proves that you should never underestimate kids.
That troublemaker? A smart kid by the name of Kevin.
After a bad evening in the lead up to a large family holiday, Kevin declares that his Christmas wish is for his whole family to disappear. Lo and behold, Kevin wakes up the next day with his family all gone and the house to himself.
What he doesn’t realise is that his family has all jetted off on their holiday, mistakenly leaving Kevin home alone.
At first, Kevin revels in having the house to himself. With his Christmas wish having been granted, Kevin lets loose.
However, Kevin soon begins to realise that his family home is being targeted. Come Christmas Eve, he is having to defend the house from a couple of rather inept – yet still threatening – burglars.
I love the ingenious snares and traps.
How many eight year olds do you know that could defend a huge house by laying traps of baubles and swinging paint cans from rope down the stairs?
That’s part of the film’s charm, though.
Kevin proves himself much stronger and braver than he’s been led to believe whilst also realising just how much his family mean to him. It’s a real heart-warming story.
Plus, it’s full of genuinely funny moments. Everyone knows the after shave scene. Part of the reason I find Home Alone so funny is the knowledge that there is next to no chance of survival following each of the traps that Kevin sets for Harry and Marv.
Yet, somehow, they do survive. Beaten and battered, but alive.
Home Alone 2 takes that entire concept to the next level.
That scene where Marv is being electrocuted used to haunt me as a child. As an adult, I can see the science-classroom-skeleton in its full glory. It gets me every time.
Home Alone was brought to life by writer John Hughes and director Christopher Columbus. Macaulay Culkin starred as Kevin, alongside acting legends Joe Pesci as Harry, Daniel Stern as Marv and Catherine O’Hara as Kevin’s Mum.
Plus, the wonderful John Candy featured as Gus and John Heard as Kevin’s Dad.
Home Alone is a great comfort film. That element of comfort is heightened even more by the Christmas themes and aesthetics. There’s something about being wrapped up in layers while watching characters in a film trudging through the snow.
I can’t quite put my finger on it.
What I can put my finger on, though, is a lovely cheese pizza just for me…
Recipe Card
A Lovely Cheese Pizza Just For Me | Home Alone
Ingredients
A lovely cheese pizza just for me base:
- 750 g [4½ cups + 3 tbsp] strong white bread flour plus extra for dusting
- 14 g [2 sachets/1 tbsp] fast action dried yeast
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3½ tbsp olive oil
- 400 ml [14 oz] water
Sauce:
- 1 red onion diced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 3 tsp dried Italian herbs or oregano
- Sprinkle of dark brown sugar
- 450 g [2 tins or around 16 oz] chopped tomatoes or tomato sauce
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- 5 tbsp tomato puree
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
Toppings:
- Cheeses of your choice to top I used mozzarella and cheddar
- Edible glitter optional
Instructions
A lovely cheese pizza just for me base:
- Preheat your oven to 240°C [460°F] or 220°C fan. If using, place a pizza/baking tray or pizza stones in the oven to heat up while you make your dough. Otherwise, make sure your removable shelf is already in the oven heating up.
- In a large bowl, sieve in the flour.
- Add the yeast to one side and the salt to the other side.
- Sprinkle in the sugar and mix everything together for an even distribution.
- Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil.
- Pour in the water and use a fork to bring everything together into a shaggy dough.
- On a clean and lightly floured work surface, knead your dough until it is smooth and shiny. This should take around 5 minutes.
- Lightly flour the surface again and lay your dough ball on it.
- Turn your large bowl upside down and place it over your dough like a dome so it can start rising.
Sauce:
- While your dough is rising, make your sauce.
- In a saucepan over a medium heat, add some oil and fry off the diced onion.
- Add the garlic, herbs and dark brown sugar. Allow to caramelise.
- Pour in the tomatoes or sauce. Add the Worcestershire sauce and stir in.
- Squeeze in the tomato puree and stir in.
- Season to taste and adapt from here – add seasoning/herbs/sugar to taste.
- Allow to simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When ready, take off the heat.
Construction:
- Time to shape your dough!
- Remove the bowl from over the top of your dough. Stretch the dough slightly and roll it out to a large circular shape with a rolling pin.
- Carefully lift the dough onto a large sheet of baking parchment/greaseproof paper.
- Create a thick crust by rolling the dough in around the edge and pinching where needed.
- Remove a shelf/tray/stone from the hot oven and slide the baking parchment with your dough onto the shelf/tray/stone.
- Bake your dough base until it has risen slightly and is just starting to colour. The surface will feel dryer when you touch it. This will take around 5 minutes.
- Once your base has mostly baked, remove it from the oven, keeping it on the tray/stone/shelf.
- Turn the oven down to 220°C [430°F] or 200°C.
- Spread the sauce over the dough, right up to the crust.
- Sprinkle over your chosen cheese. Make it as cheesy as you want!
- Slide back into the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes or until there is a nice golden colour on the crust and the cheese has a slight crisp to it.
- Once baked, leave for a few moments before spraying with edible glitter and cutting.
Notes
© Flavour of the Film. All content and imagery is copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images or written content without prior permission. If you would like to share any of the recipes or images on Flavour of the Film, please link back to the recipe in question and rewrite it in your own words, crediting Flavour of the Film as the original source.
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