This easy heart-shaped pastry recipe is a delicious savoury treat, perfect for Valentine’s day and special occasions. These tasty pastry hearts can be served as canapes at parties, as starters to a romantic meal for two, or they even make a fun addition to any lunchbox. Any excuse is a good excuse!
I’ll be taking you through the flavours and a few tips before introducing the recipe, but if you don’t have time to read it all now, PIN IT for later!
What pastry have I used, and how can you make it easy?
For this recipe, I’ve used puff pastry. You can make your own, but I have used Jus Rol’s Puff Pastry sheet as an effortless vegan alternative.
Yep – Jus Rol’s pastries are VEGAN! Another supermarket product that’s ‘accidentally vegan’ and makes your life easier when it comes to home cooking (winner!). Many supermarkets offer their own brands of puff pastry these days too, so you can choose whichever option suits your budget. Just double-check the ingredients they use are also vegan.
Lots of layers of fat and flour dough make up Puff pastry. When it cooks, the fat/butter melts and the liquid evaporates to create pockets of air, and consequently puff up to its full and beautiful potential. As a result, puff pastry is lovely, light and flaky and is great for all kinds of sweet and savoury recipes.
With gorgeous texture, these puff pastry hearts also score points for flavour.
How does this heart-shaped pastry recipe hit the spot with flavour?
Sweet vine Piccolo tomatoes and fragrant fresh basil – one of my favourite sensual duos in cooking – the perfect culinary marriage.
High in flavour, beautiful in colour and small in size, the Piccolo is the ultimate cherry tomato. They are considered one of the sweetest kinds of cherry tomato and bound to please any tomato haters. Their sweetness makes these puff pastry hearts the perfect treat for your number one sweetheart.
Pairing these little jewels of red with aromatic fresh basil delight your tastebuds.
If you’re using these as a starter, you could follow them with my 20-minute spaghetti arrabbiata and vegan meatballs which crank up the heat for a romantic main.
Assembling your puff pastry hearts
I used a 4-inch metal heart cookie cutter to cut out eight hearts from one sheet of pastry. My top tip here would be to cut the pastry while it’s still chilled as it makes the pastry hearts easier to handle and place onto your baking tray after. Once it hits room temperature, pre-made puff pastry can become soft and supple.
Then you’ll be preparing your homemade tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes to top on each of them. I’ve used a free-from green pesto in the sauce which you can find in your local supermarket. You’ll find it stocked next to traditional pesto, or in the free-from section. Sacla is a popular brand, but again, supermarkets like Tesco also have their make available too.
When you top your pastry hearts, ensure you leave a little gap around the edge. This ensures the heart shape will still be recognisable post-puff. I’ll explain the right ratio of toppings in the recipe’s method section. If you overload the hearts, you’ll risk toppings spilling over and spoiling the overall look.
Are there specific kitchen tools to help you make this heart-shaped pastry recipe?
Yes. The first thing you’ll need is a heart-shaped stencil/cookie cutter. Measurement spoons, a well-sharpened knife, parchment paper, and a whisk will also help you out.
Get ready to butter up your sweetheart with these puff pastry hearts. They really will make the heart dough fonder 😉, and you’ll be getting all the heart eye emojis for the win.
Have fun with it. If you love this puff pastry recipe, you’ll also love my puff pastry pizza – check it out here.
Much love, G x
Heart Shaped Pastry with Sweet Piccolo Tomato & Fragrant Basil
This easy heart-shaped pastry recipe is a delicious savoury treat, perfect for Valentine’s day and special occasions.
Ingredients
For the base:
- 1 x Jus Rol Puff Pastry Sheet
For the tomato and basil sauce:
- 1 tbsp chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 heaped tsp of green free from pesto
- 1 tsp garlic puree (or 2 cloves of crushed garlic)
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- ¼ tsp chilli powder
For the toppings:
- 12 Piccolo cherry tomatoes, sliced
- Violife Cream cheese
- 6 leaves of fresh basil (plus extra for serving)
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Cut out 8 puff pastry hearts while the puff pastry is still chilled. Then place all 8 on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Ensure each heart has a bit of space from the next so they have enough room to puff later.
- Combine the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, free from pesto and garlic pure in a small bowl using a whisk. It should be quite a nice thick consistency. Season with a pinch of sea salt, a grinding of black pepper and a little chilli powder. Then place to one side.
- Wash and prepare your tomatoes by slicing each into 4 slices using a sharp knife. Cut them across so you can see the lovely inner pretty structure of each tomato slice which will look nice on the pastry.
- Next, spoon over a teaspoon of the homemade tomato sauce onto each puff pastry heart and spread it out leaving a gap around the edge. Then top each heart with 6 slices of cherry tomato. Start with one at the bottom of the heart, two across the middle and three slices across the top (they will overlap a bit). Then top three small dollops of Violife’s cream cheese on each heart.
- Finely chop 6-7 leaves of fresh basil and strip a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Sprinkle both over the hearts along with another sprinkling of black pepper.
- Place the hearts into the oven for 20 minutes until puffed and golden. Serve with an additional sprinkle of fresh basil and enjoy!
Notes
Allergens: Wheat, soya, nuts (cashew).
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Heart shaped puff pastry Delicious recipe well pass it on to restaurant