Skip to Content

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Tomato Asiago Sauce

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Tomato Asiago Sauce. Juicy, tender meatballs in a deeply flavourful tomato sauce complemented with cream & asiago cheese. 

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Asiago Sauce shown on a white plate with basil and grated cheese garnish

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Tomato Asiago Sauce

We make several versions of pasta and meatballs at our house but I think this one is my personal favourite. I love the addition of Italian Sausage to the tender meatballs for an exceptional flavour boost.

Homemade Italian Sausage

A batch of my homemade Italian Sausage!

The mix of herbs is terrific too and the fennel seed in the sauce reflects the flavour of the sausage in the meatballs.

A little whipping cream added at the end gives just a touch of added richness but it is an optional ingredient if you prefer.

Asiago Cheese with Round Crackers stock image

Asiago Cheese.

The asiago cheese is slightly milder and softer than Parmesan and adds even more rich flavour to the sauce. If asiago is not available Parmesan or Romano cheese will make perfectly acceptable substitutes.

If you can’t get enough of great pasta dinner recipes, please check out our collection of 20 Best Pasta Dinners!

Best Pasta Dinners photo with title text for Pinterest 

Like this Linguine with Meatballs recipe?

Be sure to check out more of our Italian Inspired Recipes here

It’s easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram

Plus you’ll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too. 

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Asiago Sauce photop with title text for Pintertest

You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You’ll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly  meals and desserts too!

Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.Visit my Amazon Store for my favourite kitchen gadgets and appliances, plus recommendations from my personal cookbook collection.

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Asiago Sauce shown on a white plate with basil and grated cheese garnish
Yield: 8 servings

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Tomato Asiago Sauce

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Linguine with Meatballs in Blush Tomato Asiago Sauce. Juicy, tender meatballs in a deeply flavourful tomato sauce complemented with cream & asiago cheese.

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

  • 1 cup coarse bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 pound Italian sausage meat
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp ground thyme
  • 1 tsp dry oregano
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp olive oil for frying

For the sauce

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ minced medium onion
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 4 ounces smoked bacon chopped into small pieces and fully cooked to crisp
  • 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 19 oz can plain tomato sauce
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 2 tsp basil
  • 2 tsp fennel seed or ground fennel seed
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 3/4 cup grated asiago cheese
  • Chopped basil for garnish
  • 1 pound dry linguine noodles cooked to al dente in salted water and drained.
  • Instructions

Instructions

To prepare the meatballs

  1. Mix together the breadcrumbs and milk until well combined.
  2. Set aside for five minutes before adding the sausage, ground beef, egg, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.
  3. Form into 1 ½ inch balls and fry in the 3 tbsp olive oil over medium heat to brown them on all sides.

To prepare the sauce

  1. Sauté together the olive oil, onion and garlic until the onions have softened but not browned. Add all of the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the whipping cream and asiago cheese.
  2. Simmer very slowly for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, before adding the meatballs for an additional 10 minutes.
  3. Just before serving finish the sauce by adding the whipping cream and asiago cheese.
  4. Simmer while stirring for 5 minutes.
  5. Serve over cooked linguine. Top with grated asiago cheese and chopped fresh basil.

Notes

  • Season the meatballs and very lightly. There is plenty of salt in the cheese, bacon and sausage to sufficiently season the dish.
  • Calorie count does include the pasta.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

8 servings

Amount Per Serving Calories 788Total Fat 51gSaturated Fat 18gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 32gCholesterol 144mgSodium 975mgCarbohydrates 40gFiber 6gSugar 10gProtein 42g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

Did you like this recipe?

Do you love our "Real food recipes for real people'? Share the recipe on Facebook to let your friends know about us. They'll thank you for it.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Federica

Wednesday 10th of February 2010

mmmm..che buone!! ciao!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Skip to Recipe

Sharing is Caring

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!