LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — For 47 years, Orlando Carannante has been making pizzas at Antonio's Pizza on Luzerne Avenue in West Pittston.
He and his daughter Francesca have only been dishing out heart-shaped pizzas for Valentine's Day for the last 4 years or so.
"The first time I did it," said Orlando shaking his head, "it was unbelievable."
"The first time we did it, we didn't have the pan. The first year we didn't have the pan," added Francesca.
"I had to do that by myself," added Orlando.
"You remember what we did? The first time we used this, we cut a heart out, and we were tracing them," explained Francesca.
But now Francesca says she is set up for success with 10 heart-shaped tins ready for Sicilian style pizzas for Valentine's Day weekend.
"I can do 10. I can pre-make 10 every 30 minutes that way," she explained.
If you're interested in finding a shop that makes a heart-shaped pizza near you, you can use this interactive map that shows options based on your location.
This was presented to us by Jim Mirabelli, the founder of the NEPA Pizza Review blog. If you want one of these pies this weekend, he says it's best not to catch these shops off guard.
"These things take a little extra time or a little extra love to make," said Mirabelli. "So I really suggest ordering ahead, you know, call the day before called two days before so that you can schedule your pizza for pickup."
Francesca agrees. It helps the shop stay on top of orders if they know about them ahead of time, especially since she says it's something her father is still getting used to. But he was happy to give the Newswatch 16's Wyoming Valley News Crew a pie to practice.
"Actually, they kind of throw him a little bit, I think you know? But he was super excited to make that for you," said Francesca.
"I got a lot of heart right here," said Orlando
"You do have a lotta heart, a huge heart, as big as the pan," agreed Francesca.