Me and Martha go way back; I have every issue of Martha Stewart Living and I give her total credit (or, perhaps, blame) for elevating domesticity to a fine art. But while I appreciate the ingenuity of laying a doily over a cookie and dusting it with confectioner's sugar to create a lace-like pattern, I rarely tackle such culinary arts'n'crafts projects in my own kitchen.

Maybe it's because there's something kind of anticlimactic about putting so much time and effort into the presentation of a meal that's going to be consumed in a fraction of the time it took to make. I can't sum it up any better than the brilliant, and blunt, Mario Batali, “When you think about it, all of my greatest work is poop, tomorrow.”

Having said that, though, I'll admit that there are special occasions, Valentine's Day being one of them, that merit a bit more effort even from slackers like me.

If you want to enjoy a relaxed and romantic meal, your best bet is to eat out at a nice, cozy bistro and leave the cooking to someone else. It's not a fluke that more restaurant reservations are made on Valentine's Day than any other day of the year except Mother's Day.

But if you haven't already booked a table at Chez Très Cher, and you don't take this whole Valentine's thing too seriously, I have a recipe for an easy, cheesy, heart-shaped pizza that tastes as good as it looks. Martha would be proud!

Kat's Cheesy, Crusty Valentine

1 pound whole wheat pizza dough

4 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup ricotta cheese

1-3 garlic cloves, to taste

pinch dried basil & oregano

1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into 1/4” strips

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 dozen large shitake mushrooms

yield: approximately one dozen mini pizzas, depending on the size of your cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a large heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut the dough into individual hearts. Dust the bottoms of the hearts with cornmeal and set on a lightly greased baking tray.

Combine the ricotta, tomato paste and garlic. Mix until ricotta is uniformly pink. Spread a nice, thick layer of the cheese/tomato blend on each heart using a butter knife or spatula. Sprinkle with the herbs.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and saute the shitakes briefly till softened, a few minutes on each side. Allow to cool, and, using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut into little hearts.

Place a heart-shaped shitake in the center of each pizza. Using the red pepper strips, make a heart-shaped outline around the shitake.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust puffs up a bit and turns golden around the edges.