Meatball Sub Casserole

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     One weekly date that I try to keep as often as possible is going over to my son's house every Tuesday and eating lunch with his two children.  One is almost 3 and the other is 6 months old.  I started when there was only the oldest and we called it "Lunch with Spencer."  Now that I babysit my daughter's baby, Emily, I take her along and it is a nice time for these cousins to connect.  
       I usually stop at a different take-out restaurant and pick up food for everyone.  Since my son works from home, I get lunch for him, my DIL, myself, and the kids.  (Well, Emily mostly shares with me and Amelia is too young for that kind of food yet, but you get the idea.) I have started to learn what everyone likes.  For example, if I stop at Subway, I know my DIL likes the meatball sub.  
        Recently, I was looking at Jan D'Atri's website. She published a version of a Meatball Sub Casserole that I thought looked delicious and I figured that my DIL would really enjoy it.  I tried it out and it was very tasty. DIL did really like it!  My only problem was that I like to do my garlic bread slightly differently and I decided to make my own meatballs.  I wanted the bread to come out a little crispier the second time I made it.  So, I took her awesome recipe and adapted it to my taste and this time, it really hit the spot with ME!  I am going to make this version and take it to "Lunch with Spencer" and see how everyone likes it. 

          Click on the pictures to get a quick overview of what I did: 

Make your meatballs or purchase a really good brand that you love and brown them in a skillet. After that, pour your spaghetti sauce over the top and let them simmer while you get the bread ready.

I split the french bread horizontally and buttered it with garlic butter. Then, put the halves back together to slice the bread. Open up the slices to lay them on top of the meatballs and sauce that you have covered with cheese.

Finally, cover the bread with good, shredded Parmesan Cheese. Then, pop it in the oven.

The crispiness on this bread was perfect! Remember to bake it without a cover.

Meatball Sub Casserole

     One warning!  There is a lot of stretchy, melty cheese in this casserole that can be kind of deliciously messy!  I sure didn't mind that though!  

My serving method was to put 2 or 3 slices of the bread to one side of the dish. We love these rimmed bowls. Then, spoon in some meatballs and sauce with plenty of cheese! So good! (but messy)

P.S.  It is even better if you use good cheese!