Bubble Pizza Casserole

I can't take credit for this recipe or the picture!

Nope!

Pillsbury and my son!

I get e-mails from Pillsbury.

Like almost every day -- it's c.r.a.z.y!

But one day, my cherub was breathing down my neck reading over my shoulder and saw the picture of this recipe.

"Oh momma, that'd be good!"

And being a good momma, I said, "Sure thing!  Whatever you want!"

(Because that's what I say most of the time to him . . .NOT!)

We read the recipe; decided the changes we would make to it and then we got the ingredients the next time we went grocery shopping.

This recipe calls for pre-made meatballs.

Which I really don't like.

For many reasons.

One being texture.

The others -- you don't want to know.

Because truthfully, you probably didn't even care about the first reason!

But what we did is make our own little meatballs.  Here's the link for that!
http://www.karen-proverbs31.blogspot.com/2011/06/spaghetti-and-meat-balls.html

We made the meatballs ahead of time and froze them.

Today, I pulled them from the freezer, popped them in the crockpot to cook and this evening, before ball, I put the casserole together.

While it cooked, the cherubs and I made a salad.

How easy is that?

Very!

That's the answer you said, right?

Bubble Pizza Casserole

1 can (11 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated original breadsticks (12 breadsticks)                        

1  bag (16 oz) frozen cooked Italian-style meatballs (32 meatballs).  We made our own and made 25 walnut size meatballs.                   

1  can (15 oz) pizza sauce                        

1/2 cup chopped pepperoni   (I used the mini turkey pepperoni and didn't chop!)             

2  tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese                        

2 cups shredded pizza cheese blend (8 oz)  (I didn't have this -- I just grated mozzarella                  

Heat oven to 375°F.

Spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.

Unroll dough into rectangle; cut rectangle crosswise into 8 strips so each strip has 6 pieces. At perforations, separate dough, or cut if necessary, to make 48 pieces. Arrange 1/2 of the dough pieces randomly in bottom of baking dish.                           

In large microwavable bowl, place meatballs and pizza sauce. Cover; microwave on Medium-High (70%) 5 to 8 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and meatballs are thawed. Stir in pepperoni. Pour over dough pieces in dish; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining dough pieces over cheese. (If you made your own meatballs, you can totally skip the microwave part . . .unless you cooked then froze . . .) 

Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and dough pieces are no longer doughy. (I baked our for about 30 minutes:  I wanted to make sure the dough on the bottom was done too!).  Sprinkle with pizza cheese blend; bake 4 to 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

**You can add chopped onion, black olives, diced pepper . . . anything you would want on a pizza to this dish!  Make it your own!