FAMILY RECIPE #2: Aunt Leá’s Noodle Kugel

If you’re not familiar with Jewish cooking, you may have never tasted kugel (or even know what it is). To that, I say, make this ASAP. There are different kinds of kugel, but the kind I was mostly raised with is noodle kugel. Sometimes it’s referred to as noodle pudding. It’s kind of like bread pudding but with egg noodles instead of bread. 

This is the second recipe I’ve made from my family cookbook as part of the family recipes project I’m working on. This recipe was submitted by my Aunt Leá who is my maternal grandma’s brother’s wife.

The kugel I’ve eaten the most is made with just noodles, eggs, butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Sometimes I’ve had kugel with apples baked in, but this recipe was the first I’ve had with pineapple.

I didn’t really know what to expect from the pineapple and the cottage cheese in this recipe, but it is so good. The pineapple melts into all the other flavors where you can’t even exactly taste which fruit it is.

The overall flavor and texture reminds me a lot of cheese blintzes, another incredibly delicious Jewish comfort food.

The top is sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and gets kind of crunchy. I think this is a great recipe if you’re having company over for brunch. We never have company over (or brunch, for that matter), but a girl can dream.

Thanks Aunt Leá for this delicious recipe!

Best,

Spencer