For Valentine’s Day or any pizza night with loved ones, make a pepperoni heart-shaped pizza.
Old-fashioned round pizza. Kidding. It’s fun to try new pizzas. Heart-shaped pepperoni and pizza dough!
This pizza is delightful to make for Valentine’s Day or any pizza night.
Heart-shaped Pizza Instructions
This pizza can be made with most pizza doughs. I like to create no-knead pizza dough the night before.
Pizza dough can be heart-shaped two ways. Start with room-temperature dough. Cold makes shaping difficult.
Stretch technique. Handle the dough and slowly shape it into a heart. This isn’t perfect, but it saves money. Since the dough will bunch up as you shape it, the point and top of the heart will have a slightly thicker crust.
Cut technique. Despite losing dough, I like this way. Roll the dough into a perfect round and use a dough scraper or pizza cutter to carve the imprint out of the top of the heart and stretch and cut the bottom for the point. Simple and attractive!
Pepperoni Hearts Cut
You don’t have to cut your pepperoni into hearts, but it’s a great touch and gives you extra pieces!
Fold the pepperoni in half and cut an angle off the top with a paring knife or kitchen scissors to make a heart. Trim the edge to make the heart point. It’s simple after a while.
Put all your pepperoni trimmings under your cheese for maximum taste!
Pizza Sauce
An herb pizza sauce with lots of dried herbs is included. It mixes well and tastes great. Use my quick pepperoni pizza sauce for an onion/garlic flavor.
Great Pepperoni Pizza Tips
If you make your dough, sauce, and components, pizza is hard to mess up. I utilize these pizza-enhancing tips.
Pizza stone. If you don’t have one, they’re cheap and help retain oven heat and improve crust. Great value! (Open a window and turn on a fan since they smoke while cooking).
Pepperoni up. Dice extra pepperoni and add it to the sauce under the cheese for pepperoni pizza.
Limit toppings. Avoid covering the sauce and crust with cheese and pepperoni.
Provide leftovers. Best leftover pizza!
Pepperoni fatigue? Try these!
BBQ Chicken: Store-bought or homemade BBQ sauce, smoked gouda, shredded chicken, red onion, and cilantro.
Hawaiian Pizza Diced ham and pineapple (dry canned pineapple before putting to pizza)
Sausage and Peppers: My favorite pizza toppings are crumbled Italian sausage and finely sliced red and green peppers!
Pizza Reheats Best
Reheating leftover pizza in a big skillet over medium-low heat with a drizzle of oil works best. Covering the pizza melts the cheese and crisps the dough.
Pepperoni Pizza Heart
- PREP TIME 10 mins
- PREP TIME 15 mins
- TOTAL TIME 25 mins
- SERVINGS 2–3 servings
- YIELD Big pizza
Our no-knead pizza dough or homemade pizza dough recipe yields two 1-pound balls, twice as much dough as needed. For future pizza nights, freeze half the dough.
Pizza sauce herbs
- 15-ounce tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt with basil
- dried oregano
- garlic powder
- red pepper flakes
For pizza
- 1 pound fully risen pizza dough
- Flour for counter dusting
- 10-12 inch-diameter pepperoni slices
- Shredded 12-ounce low-moisture mozzarella (3 cups).
- Fresh basil for garnish
Method
- Preheat the oven to 500°F if using a pizza stone.
- Mix the herb pizza sauce in a medium basin. Put away.
- Pepperoni shape: Fold each pepperoni in half, then use a paring knife or kitchen scissors to make an angle towards the top of the fold. Trim the edge to make the heart point. Save all pepperoni trimmings—you’ll use them!
- Pizza dough shape: On a lightly floured board, roll the pizza dough into a 12-inch circle. You have two heart-shaping options:
- Option 1: Cut a dough heart with a dough scraper, kitchen scissors, or pizza cutter. This cleans the heart but costs money.
- Option 2: Shape the dough by hand into a rough heart. You’ll have a thicker crust and more dough, but the heart won’t be as defined.
- Top pizza: Place the dough on a floured pizza peel. Top the dough with 1/2 cup herb pizza sauce and the pepperoni trimmings. Add shredded cheese and heart-shaped pepperoni.
- Serve baked: Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone using a pizza peel and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown around the edges and melted in the center (a pizza baked on a baking sheet will need 14-15 minutes). Serve with fresh basil. Slice and serve the pizza.