Meatball Sub Casserole

Meatball Sub Casserole, YUMMMMMM! Need I say more? If anyone doesn’t know of my love affair with meatball subs, let me just tell you that when I was 16, I jumped down a 20-25 foot embankment for one that had dropped. Granted, I had no clue I was up that high, and never would have had I known it, but the sprained ankle was a small price to pay…

This recipe I found on Facebook, and it originally came from Just A Pinch Recipes by a  woman named Linda Bailey. As she noted, you can make this recipe real quick by using frozen meatballs and jarred sauce; think of how cool this recipe would be to make for unexpected company if you had those on hand. I used homemade meatballs, but they were frozen: I make up a boatload of meatball mix, form and cook them, then freeze in meal sized portions. Use what you’re comfortable with and what you have time for.

So, let’s get cooking!

Whether you use store bought frozen meatballs or homemade, have them in a non-frozen state and mix with the spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce, whether jarred or homemade. I also make spaghetti sauce in huge batches and freeze in meal sized portions, but for this I did indeed use a jarred sauce.

For the Italian bread, you can just slice it and use it plain, but you know I’m not going to do that. ;) I mixed up a garlic butter by placing the softened butter in a bowl with the minced garlic and the parmesan cheese and stirring well.

Just slice up the bread, about 1 to 11/2 “ thick, and spread it on each slice.

Turn loose the meatballs and sauce in a 10 X 15 baking dish.

Place the sliced Italian bread standing up along the sides, with the garlic-butter sides facing in. Excuse the differences in coloring in these photos; this is the evil work of my camera, Cammie, who sometimes gets in a snit and likes to sabotage my pictures. ;)

Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella and Italian cheeses evenly on top. I was a little more heavy handed with the cheese than the amounts listed below in the recipe. I may or may not have thrown those cheeses onto the bread slices too. ;)

Bake in a 400° oven for 25-30 minutes until cheeses are melted and bubbly. The bread slices will be browned and slightly crispy. Serve with 1 or 2 slices of the garlic bread. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Meatball Sub Casserole

1 bag of frozen meatballs
   (or homemade, I think I used 30)
1 md jar of marinara sauce or spaghetti    sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Italian blend cheese, shredded
1 loaf of fresh Italian bread
½ c butter, softened
3 humongous cloves garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese