Recipe
Ingredients:
12 oz. wide egg noodles
8 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 lb. cottage cheese
1 stick butter plus some to butter pan
1 lb. sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350° fahrenheit
Cook your egg noodles in a large pot of boiling water. Make sure to salt the water and stir the pot occasionally. Your noodles should be done in about 5-8 minutes. Once your noodles are cooked, drain the water.
Butter the bottom and sides of a baking dish. You’re welcome to use salted or unsalted butter, but keep your decision in mind when adding salt later.
To make the custard, melt one stick of butter and let it cool once it is fully melted. While it is cooling, whisk together your eight large eggs and ½ cup of sugar. You should whisk until the eggs are frothy and no granules of sugar remain. Add 1 lb. of cottage cheese, 1 lb. of sour cream, 1 tsp. of ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. If you used unsalted butter on your pan, add 2 tsp. of salt. Pour in your melted butter and whisk all of the ingredients together until they are fully incorporated.
Put your egg noodles in with your custard and make sure to coat them with the mixture as much as possible.
Once your noodles are covered in the liquid, pour them into the baking dish that you previously buttered. Distribute the noodles evenly before placing the pan into the oven.
Bake your kugel for about an hour, keeping an eye on it at the 50 minute mark. Rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure that the dish is cooked evenly. The edges of the kugel should be slightly crispy when it is ready to be removed from the oven.
Let cool and enjoy!
Family Significance:
My grandmother and grandfather joined their temple in the early 1970’s, only a year after the temple had started. Due to it being such a recent temple, the rabbi put groups of families together so they could get to know each other and socialize. This is called a Chavurah. The chavurah consisted of five or six families who celebrated all of the Jewish holidays with my family. This group allowed my family members to form lifelong bonds and friendships. My aunt recalls that they took trips together and celebrated all of the important milestones such as bar & bat mitzvahs, graduations, and weddings. For all of the Jewish holidays, they would take turns hosting at someone’s home and each family would be assigned a dish. My grandmother always made the noodle kugel for Yom Kippur.
She loved to host, and set the bar very high. Especially when she decided to cook all of the food for my Uncle’s Bar Mitzvah, which was hosted in their house. Cooking, setting a beautiful table, having a good time, the entertainment, she loved it all. However, when she was diagnosed with cancer in her mid 40’s it was hard for her not to be able to cook and host. Despite her illness, she insisted on still having the chavurah for the holidays . So that’s when one of the other women, Bonnie Kramer, started making her noodle kugel. She used a friend of a friend’s recipe and it was a huge hit.
After a 3 year battle with cancer my grandmother passed away. My grandfather eventually remarried and his wife took on the role of hosting as best she could. This included making Bonnie’s noodle kugel. Time marched on and about 5-6 years ago when it became too difficult for her to cook she passed the baton to my aunt, who was kind enough to share this recipe and story with me.
Many women before me made this cherished dish and I will make sure to think of them anytime I make it, as my aunt does. My aunt says that all of the memories are tied together in the dish, the special recipes, the traditions, the celebrations, the laughter, the tears, all of it.
Cultural Significance:
Noodle kugel has some very tangled roots. There are a great deal of different versions from all Jewish communities. It is an Ashkenazi staple, but it has also been made in new ways by Sephardic jews, American jews, and Israeli jews, each community making it in an innovative way that shows unity in diversity. This is exactly the reason that lokshen is eaten commonly on Shabbat. The noodles are emblematic of the togetherness of the people of Israel, despite any differences.