I can never stop at one bite with this dish. My plates are always empty by the end

In preparation for this recipe, I usually start by cutting the crusts off the bread so I don't have to be fiddling with a knife later on. The recipe calls for stale bread. You can use fresh bread if you like, but I usually reserve fresh bread for things that need it to be fresh. Honestly, I feel like my bread goes stale so quick that I hardly ever have any fresh bread laying around anyway.

Feel the need for some fiber in your comfort food? Try the recipe with whole wheat bread. Is that really going to add that much fiber? I don't know, but it's the thought that counts, right?
The beauty of this casserole recipe is its flexibility, and that is shown off by the very first real step, which is creating the raw tomato soup base. You don't need to actually cook the soup, but just combine the soup ingredients in a bowl. The cooking part will be handled when we bake the casserole.
The base recipe calls for 28 ounces of whole peeled tomatoes. If you can get your hands on fresh tomatoes, then that translates to around 4-5 medium tomatoes. A word of warning for those tempted to chop the tomatoes versus peeling them: to get that smooth soup feeling in every bite, you're going to want them peeled. I know, that can be a pain, and if you're not feeling up to it you can get canned whole peeled tomatoes from most grocery stores. You lose a little street cred, but nobody will be able to tell the difference between canned or fresh tomatoes once everything has been baked.