Meatball Sub Casserole ((you have to see it to believe it!))
This meal was created for two reasons:
- I made this for Kade’s birthday and he asked me not to “cook”…
- I needed a simple, quick meal that the birthday boy would LOVE
Kade’s birthday fell on one of our family’s busiest weekdays, so our official celebration is on hold ’til the weekend. But I wanted him to feel like the special boy he is.
On a recent busy night, I made spaghetti and meatballs. The kiddos LOVED the meal. It was super fancy, intricate & healthily delicious. None of those descriptions are true. All ingredients were store bought, I modified nothing & my culinary imprint was nowhere to be found in the entire meal. ((ho hum))
As mom reminds me often, I am feeding a pack of dogs – they aren’t “in” to truly GOOD food in every sense of the word…so I breathe in, and out and comply with satisfying their palate every once in a while.
In the spirit of the love my herd had for that meal, I grabbed some more of those beloved frozen meatballs and my very most favorite jarred pasta sauce ((from Braum’s)), some Kings Hawaiian dinner rolls and a very lovely vintage cheddar from Wyke Farms.
I pre-cooked the meatballs, sliced the dinner rolls, grated the cheese and … opened the jar of pasta sauce. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it!
I think this would become a ROCK STAR dinner if I had time to make and bake my own meatballs — like my Smokehouse Meatballs or my Chicken Tikka Masala Meatballs… a recipe for another time! haha – Because Kade told me not to cook on his birthday.
I waved my magic wand, wrapped it all up in foil & popped it in the oven for 20 minutes.
The cheese and the sauce melt into the bread ever so slightly, the extra cheese oozes out in the foil bottom and turns wonderfully crunchy — oh and the outside of the rolls toasts giving this “casserole” the perfect combination of gooey and crispy-crunchiness. I was surprised at how delicious this is – and I can humbly admit ((to my children’s delight!!)) – this will be on repeat status for our family menu.
- 24 frozen meatballs
- 1/2 to 3/4 c hand shredded cheese
- 12 dinner rolls, sliced into 2 halves ((sandwich style))
- 1 1/2 c jarred pasta sauce
- Preheat oven to 375°. Cook meatballs according to package instructions.
- Once meatballs are cooked, add two meatballs to each roll, 2-3 T pasta sauce & a generous mound of freshly grated cheese. Repeat with all rolls until meatballs and rolls are used up. Place all sandwiches on a sheet of foil ((use a large enough piece of foil to package all of the sandwiches together)) open side facing up. Drizzle a few more T of pasta sauce over the top of the sandwiches and top with remaining cheese. Seal foil packet closed and place the packet in a 9"x13" baking dish ((for extra support)).
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until cheese has melted and sandwiches are hot through.
