Raise your hand if you love meatball subs? Now how would you like to take all those flavors you love about a meatball sub and turn it into a casserole? Well, here ya go folks. This was the best tasting casserole I have had in a while. Not only was it super easy to make but the flavors blended so well together.
Homemade meatballs can be used in this dish; however, you want them to be fully cooked before adding them to this dish. This is a family friendly meal and using the pre-made meatballs really makes this quick to make.
I would definitely serve this with a salad. Perhaps a big, green salad full of veggies and maybe topped with my Copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing And for dessert, how about some No-Bake Strawberry Tiramisu?
For a softer casserole, don’t toast the bread first. For a more firm casserole, toast the french bread slices first.
For a twist, try using garlic Texas toast rather than the Italian bread.
Ingredients :
Loaf of French bread or ours*
Butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (omitted from photo)
8 oz of cream cheese, softened to room-temperature (omitted from photo)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1 pound of frozen, fully cooked, thawed Italian meatballs (NOTE: it is often sold in 2 pound bags so use only 1/2 a bag.)
1 can Hunts Spaghetti Sauce (any flavor, our favorite is Garlic & Herb)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
How to make it :
Turn oven on to broil. Slice the French bread into thick one inch slices. Butter one side lightly. Place on a cookie sheet with buttered side up. Repeat with the remainder of slices. Very lightly sprinkle the bread with garlic salt. Broil until toasty on the edges.
Turn oven down to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 metal or glass pan with cooking spray. Place bread (toasted side up) into your 9×13 pan. Fill it up leaving very few gaps; cut one slice into pieces if necessary to fill large gaps. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise and Italian seasoning using an electric mixer until smooth (be sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl). Using a spatula, spread the mix over all the bread slices creating a sheet of the cream cheese mix.
Cut the thawed meatballs in half sprinkling them all over the cream cheese mix.
Pour your can of spaghetti sauce evenly over the meatballs.
Evenly sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the spaghetti sauce.
Bake for 30 minutes until heated all the way through and cheese is golden and bubbly.