Grandma Erna's Noodle Kugel
From Milk Street's My Family Recipe. Serves 12. When Fairlight de Michele was growing up, her Grandma Erna’s noodle kugel graced most holiday tables. Thirty years later, Fairlight, who lives in Oakland, California, wanted to reacquaint herself with that kugel, which she described as “a dish of comfort.” Her grandmother was born in Poland and survived Auschwitz during World War II. After the war, she moved to the United States, bringing her lokshen (noodle) kugel with her. When Fairlight discovered that family members no longer had the recipe—her cousin lost it at some point—she experimented with a few versions she found online, but they didn’t work. So she asked Milk Street to replicate the kugel of her childhood.
Recipe Ingredients
- - 340 grams (12 ounces) wide egg noodles Kosher salt
- - 233 grams (1.5 cups) golden raisins
- - 57 grams (4 tablespoons) salted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon salted butter, room temperature
- - 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into chunks, room temperature 107 grams (1/2 cup) white sugar
- - 16-ounce container whole-milk cottage cheese (2 cups), room temperature 16-ounce container sour cream (2 cups), room temperature
- - 4 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- - 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- - 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Recipe Instructions
- In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add the noodles and 1 tablespoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente. Drain in a colander and transfer to a large bowl. Add the raisins and melted butter, then stir well.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and sugar on low until combined, then increase to medium and continue to beat, scraping the bowl as needed, until smooth and creamy, another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cottage cheese and mix on medium until well combined and almost smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl, then add the sour cream, eggs and egg yolks, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix on low until mostly combined, then increase to medium-high and beat until homogeneous, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl and stir the mixture to ensure it is well blended, then pour it into the bowl with the noodle mixture and stir until combined. Using the spatula, press the noodles down to make sure they are submerged, then let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with the room-temperature butter.
- Pour the kugel mixture into the prepared baking dish. Distribute the noodles evenly throughout, pressing them down to submerge them as much as possible.
- Bake until the kugel is golden brown, does not jiggle at the center when the dish is gently shaken and registers 160°F in the center, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Using a serrated knife, cut into squares.