Meatball Sub Casserole

When I peruse (like that fancy word?) Pinterest, I often pin recipes that I think, "I should try that some time."  But sometimes when I pin a recipe, that thought, that food photo, that description...it stays with me. And haunts me.  And lures me to try it very soon.

This was one of those recipes.

Meatball Sub Casserole.

When I saw the picture and saw the ingredients (including bread, meatballs, Mozzarella, and cream cheese), I was ready to eat it.  And have just been waiting until today when it was time.

I used this website's recipe as a guide, tweaking it just a bit. 

Ingredients:
1 to 1.5 lbs meatballs (The original recipe uses frozen meatballs. I made my own from this recipe...just the meatballs, no gravy)

1 loaf French bread (the original recipe calls for Italian...I could only find French :)

1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened (I did use my usual 1/3 less fat)

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use the lighter one with olive oil)

Italian seasoning and pepper (I didn't measure...I just use the "grinder" versions and added what I thought looked good, a little heavier on the Italian seasoning)

Mozzarella cheese, shredded (I just used 8 ounces "fresh" and shredded it myself so mine was more like one cup...but it is OH so good fresh!)

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 cup water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Tear bread apart to fit into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  I cut it in half lengthwise; it should only be about an inch thick.  I did this and then stuck it into the oven to "toast" just a little while I prepared the other parts of the dish as suggested on the original recipe.

Mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Italian seasoning, and pepper.  Spread over the bread.

Sprinkle half the Mozzarella over the cream cheese mixture.

Place the meatballs on top of the cheese.

Mix spaghetti sauce and water and pour over the meatballs.  (I think the original recipe had you mix the meatballs in with the sauce and water, but I didn't pay attention until I had already put the meatballs into the casserole...it worked fine.)

Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 30-35 minutes uncovered.

Enjoy.

We did.

My teenager probably ate 1/3 of it himself.

I could have.  But I didn't.  :)

Even my pickiest eater enjoyed it, though she might not admit it.  I know she ate more than she planned...

We will definitely be having this again soon!

Reba
PS I would think you could make this ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to cook it. If I did, I might hold off on pouring the sauce/water to keep the bread from getting too soggy.