Sweet Noodle Kugel

Today is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Holiday of Atonement.  As part of the holiday we fast from sundown to sundown to atone for our sins over the past year.  Yup, that means 24 hours of not eating.  It’s always been tough, but these past few years have been especially hard.

First I was pregnant. Anyone that tries to fast while they’re pregnant is insane. I started out the morning planning on trying not to eat until lunch, but the baby inside me had other plans. I don’t think I made it much past 10 am before the nausea set in and I had to get something in my stomach. Then the next year Aidan was only 4 months old and since I was breast feeding him, that meant I had to eat to make sure my baby was getting enough milk.  So this year, I’m not pregnant and I’m not breast feeding which means I could actually make it through the 24 hours without eating. 

But then you have the issue of making a big Break the Fast, which means you have to cook while fasting. That’s also difficult.  But somehow I manage. Especially if I’m making recipes I’ve been making since I was a kid.  This is one of those recipes.  This noodle pudding or noodle kugel has been in my family for years. I don’t know where it came from or whose recipe it is, but it’s been made every year for Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Passover or if we were just in the mood for a really yummy noodle pudding.  It’s so easy, I really don’t need the recipe anymore.  And if I don’t need the recipe, it also means I don’t need to taste it to make sure it’s coming out okay.  And since I won’t be tasting it, that means I won’t (ideally) be eating before sundown.

Hopefully you won’t need the recipe after you make it a couple times, which means you too can be food free on the holiest day of the year.  But if you do want to break the fast early and sample this delicious kugel while you’re making it, please be my guest.  I promise I won’t tell.

Sweet Noodle Kugel

• 1 12 oz. package of wide flat egg noodles
• 1 pound of cottage cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup of sour cream
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 2 cups of milk
• a handful of raisins

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease a 9×13 pan and put aside.

Cook the noodles through in boiling water.  Add all the ingredients to the cooked noodles and stir by hand until combined.  Add a handful of raisins and give a quick toss.

Pour the mixture into a prepped 9×13 pan.  Pour in the milk.

Cook for 1 hour and serve immediately.