Meatball Cheese Bake

By popular request....my go-to dish for taking meals to people.  It's a huge comfort dish!!

Ingredients:
Egg Noodles (about 2/3 of a package)
Spaghetti/Marinara Sauce
2 Cups Shredded Cheese (your choice)

Filling:
8 oz Sour Cream
8 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tbsp. Dried Parsley

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef or Italian Sausage
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs (plain or Italian Style)
1/4 Cup Milk
1-2 Cloves Crushed Garlic (may omit)

Directions:
Mix together ingredients for meatballs  Cook using your preferred method - I usually bake them in the oven, usually about 20 minutes or so. When the meatballs are done, add them to a pot witht he marinara sauce so it warms up. Cook Noodles (yeah.....duh!!).  Mix together filling ingredients.  Layer in an 8 1/2 x 11 pan:

Spread 2 tablespoons of sauce on the bottom of the pan to keep the noodles from sticking.
Noodles
Filling
Meatball and Marinara Mixture
Cheese

Cover with foil, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.  Yummy!!
Variations: Add a layer of spinach (slightly wilted) between the filing and the meatballs.  If you don't have time to make meatballs, just brown the meat instead, and mix with the sauce.  Or, you can make it vegetarian by omitting the meat and adding mushrooms or zucchini to the sauce.  I've also made meatless-balls by using chopped mushrooms, just use extra breadcrumbs to help bind the mixture.

Enjoy..this really is one of my all-time favorite recipes!!