Meatball Casserole

 

 This is a delicious recipe that came together out of sheer desperation. Grocery shopping had not happened in quite some time and it was the night before school started. Desperate times indeed. While my sweet husband cut out sheets of apple boarder decorations for my classroom I whipped up this casserole in hopes it would power us through the night of school preparations. 

"It tastes like a bowl full of pizza!" I would say that's a pretty good reaction. The hasty combination of bread, meat, cheese, and sauce turned out very yummy! This is so easy to make and your whole family will love it!

Ingredients

1 pound of ground chicken

1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jar of marinara sauce

2 cups of cheese

1 loaf of magic bread, or french bread cut into large chunks

2 1/2 cups grated mozzarella, divided

Mix the ground chicken and all purpose seasoning well, making sure to not squish the meat too much. If you squish the meat as you are mixing it, the meatballs will come out tough. Roll the meat into tablespoon sized balls.

 Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the meatballs turning after 5 minutes or so. The meatballs just need to be browned on the outside since they will continue cooking in the marinara sauce.

Once the meatballs have been browned on both sides, set them off to the side while you brown some garlic. 

 

With the oil remaining in the pan, brown the garlic for just a few seconds to add some great flavor to the pan. 

 

 Add the sauce into the pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Add the meatballs back in as well. Let this simmer for about 10 minutes. 

While the sauce and meatballs are cooking, grease a 9 X 13 casserole dish. Add in about half of the bread chunks.

 

Sprinkle over about 1 cup of the cheese over the bread. 

 

Once the sauce and meatballs have had a chance to simmer, pour half of the mixture over the bread pieces. 

 

Add in the remaining bread chunks and sauce as well as 1 cup of cheese mixture over the bread.  The remaining 1/2 cup of cheese should go over the top. 

Pop this into a 350 degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes until the center of the casserole is bubbly. 

 

This meal was so delicious! Bread, rich sauce, ooey gooey cheese and meatballs.  It was a winning combination!