I’ve been on an Asiago cheese kick lately… it’s such a refreshing alternative to Mozzarella, Provolone, or Parmesan. Those subtle hints of smoked flavor as well as a bit of sharpness and bite to the cheese makes it lovely to add as a garnish or to deepen or enhance flavors, which is how I used it in this particular recipe. It was love at first taste with me and Asiago… I’m sure you will have a similar encounter!

Meat Stuffed Shells
Makes approximately 18 stuffed shells

3/4 – 1 lb. lean ground beef
3 links of Italian sweet sausage, removed from the casing (may use hot sausage as well… i just accidentally pulled out the sweet from the freezer, but either works!)
2 large cloves of garlic
salt and black pepper
olive oil
Red pepper flakes
Fresh basil leaves (8- 10 leaves)
Dried oregano
1 small onion or shallot, chopped finely
1 c. Asiago cheese, grated
1/2 c. Romano cheese, grated
1 package of Jumbo shell noodles
1 jar of Dellalo brand Pink Vodka Sauce (feel free to use any regular spaghetti sauce for this, I just wanted to spice up the dish a bit, so I used something a little less traditional)

Step 1: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

Meanwhile remove meat from package and place in a skillet over medium heat, drizzled with 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil. Be sure to break the meat up and the links of sausage to cook faster.

Season the meat with salt and pepper.

Step 2: Add the crushed cloves of garlic into the meat.

Then sprinkle in a large pinch of red pepper flakes if you are using sweet Italian sausage.

Add in the shell noodles to the boiling water and cook according to package directions until noodles are el dente.

Step 3: The chopped shallot or onion should be added into the meat here as well, but like a lot of times, I forgot, so if you forget like me, just add them to a skillet afterwards and saute them lightly in olive oil then add them to the meat mixture.

Once meat is browned through. drain the excess fat and then place the meat into a large mixing bowl.

(Apologies for how disgusting this looks haha! I figured i needed to show you…)

Step 4: Remove pasta from water and cool in a colander.

Add chopped basil leaves to the meat mixture (this is what makes it delicious in my opinion!)

Add a large pinch of dried oregano to the meat mixture.

Step 5: Add in the Asiago and Romano cheese. Then stir the meat mixture together so the seasonings are well blended into the meat.

Step 6: Add about a 1/4 c. or so of the pink vodka sauce to the meat mixture and stir until coated throughout the meat (this will moisten the mixture so that it doesn’t become too dry while baking and also add in a punch of tomato flavor).

Step 7: Place about 1/2 c. sauce in bottom of baking dish to keep it moist while baking.

Take one large shell noodle and stuff with a large spoonful of the meat mixture. Place noodle in the dish, open end up. Repeat until all the shells have been filled and lined into the baking dish. Top shells with the remaining sauce.

Cover dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Serve hot. Goes nice with a mixed green salad and slice of crusty bread. Enjoy!! Sorry I don’t have a final picture of them on a plate… we were too hungry by the time they were done we just gobbled them down! They were delicious! I plan on definitely making these again and again.