Recipe Share: Meatball Sub Casserole

Oh this is delicious-smelling! Another goodies from the Once-A-Month Cooking: Family Favorites, by Mimi Wilson & Mary Beth Lagerborg.
6 cups Italian Bread, cubed
1- 8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups (8 oz) mozzarella cheese
1 cup water
2 cups spaghetti sauce
2- 12oz pkgs turkey or reg. Italian-style meatballs, ready-to-eat

Spread bread cubes in sprayed 9x13 pan.
Combine cream cheese, mayo and seasonings together and spread over bread. cover with half the cheese.
Blend spaghetti sauce, water and meatballs and pour over all.
Top with remaining cheese.

At this point, you can cover with heavy-duty foil and freeze. Thaw before baking.

Bake @ 350 for 30 mins.
Serves 8

What I did:
I tripled everything, used a full 40oz bag of meatballs I had in the freezer. Homemade would be even better :)
I left my bread in pretty large, torn pieces. Next time, I will toast my bread/torn pieces -- they were a tad more soggy than we really prefer. French bread might actually work even better. Again, homemade, even better :)
Also, that water -- I will skip it next time, or at least half it. I think the spaghetti sauce has enough 'liquidity' (yeah, I know...don't bother getting a dictionary; it ain't there). Even better I think, would be the bulk lasagna/pizza "sauce" we make up.

All in all, even totally store-bought made, it's a keeper. With my own homemade meatballs and sauce, even better! Stocking my freezer with ready-made meals isn't what I'm after, but this is delicious and we are really enjoying the bulk cookbook!