THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY DIGIORNO PIZZA

Hello! I am super excited to share a fun idea for making mini heart pizzas with homemade ranch that you and your kids will love! As you may know, I have been working with DIGIORNO pizza to share ideas for entertaining at home to help you rise to any occasion! With DIGIORNO pizza, you can spend more time enjoying your family and friends and less time in the kitchen. Today, we are sharing how to make these darling mini heart pizzas with mini heart pepperoni, using DIGIORNO Four Cheese Original Rising Crust pizza. The kids will love these… mine sure did! We are also sharing a recipe for Homemade Garlic Ranch to go with your pizza that is super delicious!

I was recently invited to visit the Nestlé DIGIORNO pizza kitchens in Solon, Ohio. It was quite an experience! It is always so amazing to go behind the scenes and really learn about the brands that I work with and the many steps of how new products are created. This gorgeous kitchen is where chefs work to createand test the latest DIGIORNO pizza varieties. Pretty cool! These mini heart shaped pizzas were inspired by my trip to the kitchens, where I was able to make my own custom DIGIORNO pizza from scratch!

We’ll get back to that visit soon, but first let me show you how to make these darling mini heart pizzas!
You will need a mini heart cookie cutter and small heart cookie cutter. Before you bake your DIGIORNO Original Rising Crust Four Cheese pizza, use the mini cutter to cut out pepperoni hearts. Place on pizza and bake as directed. Your DIGIORNO pizza will be hot and ready in about 20 minutes!

To make the mini shaped pizzas, use the larger cookie cutter to cut pizza into hearts. Use a paring knife to help cut through, if needed.

To make the mini shaped pizzas, use the larger cookie cutter to cut pizza into hearts. Use a paring knife to help cut through, if needed.

Cute! Cute!

You’ll have the delicious DIGIORNO pizza crust leftover, so cut it into small squares for dipping! The DIGIORNO pizza crust is the best! It’s crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside. No need to let that yummy goodness to go waste!

Wondering what that delicious looking dip is?

Homemade Garlic Ranch

1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup fresh parsley
2 tbsp fresh chives
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Chill at least one hour before serving. 

Okay, yum. Now that you are enjoying your adorable heart pizzas and delicious homemade ranch, let me tell you a little bit more about my trip!

It was an amazing experience to hear from some of the key pizza experts at DIGIORNO pizza. With 20 years of bakery expertise, dating back to Frank Cole, the dough expert behind the Original Rising Crust, DIGIORNO pizzadelivers on delicious with a pie with a fresh-baked taste made with premium ingredients. It was really interesting to learn about the journey of how products go from an idea to an end product, with plenty of taste tests along the way. It starts with a culinary exploration process with the DIGIORNO pizza chefs coming up with new flavors and varieties and getting feedback on the ideas. Lucky for us, we had the opportunity to get involved in a similar process, by creating our own pizza flavors with delicious ingredients and having the group taste test each of the pizzas. We were teamed up with the amazing DIGIORNO pizza chefs and bakers, who walked us through the step by step process of making our own pizza from scratch! Making and stretching dough for the crust is quite an art form. My partner, David Bailey taught me a few tricks and tips, but I think I need a little more practice.

This guy knows a thing or two about dough. Meet Chris Zelch, Director of Product Development at Nestlé. It was so interesting to learn that he is a fifth generation baker and has a degree in bakery science. Who knew there was even such a thing? Incredible.

After the chefs showed us a few tricks, it was time to make our own pizza. My team was impressed with my KitchenAid mixer skills.

We were encouraged to think outside of the box, and I decided I wanted to make mini heart pizzas, but after attempting to cut and shape the dough without a cutter, I went ahead and created a big heart pizza instead! My toppings included: caramelized onions, spinach, sausage and mozzarella, of course. It turned out delicious! Who knows, maybe DIGIORNO pizza will use my flavor combination for a future pie!

Did I mention how delicious it smelled in the DIGIORNO pizza kitchen? Wow. Did you know that when you bake DIGIORNO Original Rising Crust pizza at home, it fills your kitchen with the smell of fresh bread – and no other oven-ready pizza does that? Yep. So good.

I had an amazing time visiting the DIGIORNO headquarters and kitchens!

Thank you so much for having me! 

Be sure to include DIGIORNO Original Rising Crust pizza for your next celebration and make it memorable!

You can find more recipes + entertaining ideas featuring DIGIORNO pizza on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter!

Photo Styling | The TomKat Studio
Mini Heart Pizza Photography | Ten22 Studio
Featured Product | DIGIORNO pizza

THIS IS A SPONSORED POST. THE TOMKAT STUDIO HAS RECEIVED PAYMENT AND/OR PRODUCTS FROM DIGIORNO PIZZA IN EXCHANGE FOR PROMOTING, HOWEVER ALL OPINIONS STATED ARE MY OWN AND I ONLY PROMOTE PRODUCTS I LOVE.