Yogurt Noodle Kugel - Noodle Pudding

What is a kugel (koo-gel or ki-gel)? Kugel can be a side dish when it is savory, or, it can be a sweet dessert. In lay terms, a kugel is a pudding or casserole. It is a traditional Jewish food whether it is savory with onions and salt or sweet with sugar and raisins. Kugel is made with eggs and either noodles or potatoes. Generally a potato kugel is savory. Noodle kugel goes both ways.

The word itself, in Yiddish, means 'ball', but to me "Kugel" means delicious!

I give credit for the origins of this recipe to my Aunt Clara, a Balaboosta to the nth degree. She always had something wonderful cooking in the oven when I came to visit. It was either her liver in potato balls or her noodle kugel, which I couldn't get enough of.

I modified her recipe slightly to make it more 'figure friendly'. If you aren't worried about fat, sugar, and calories then just use full fat ingredients and white sugar in place of the Splenda.

My Yogurt Kugel is the perfect sweet compliment to any brunch or dinner buffet. Your guests will probably have eaten kugel, in some form, before. But they will never have tasted anything quite so good as this one and will be asking you for the recipe.

Ingredients...

• 8 Slightly beaten Eggs
• 1 Small (1/2 pint) Sour Cream (or low fat)
• 1 Small Pineapple Cottage Cheese (if you cannot find this in your grocery store, simply use 1 cup of your favorite cottage cheese and two heaping tablespoons of crushed pineapple with the juice drained and squeezed out of it)
  
• 1 Small 4 ounce Cream Cheese (or low fat)
• 2 Fruit flavored yogurts - (apple is a good choice)
• 1 Pound (lb) wide Egg Noodles
• 1/2 Cup Sugar (or Splenda)
• 1 stick sweet butter or 1/2 cup Margarine
• Cinnamon
• Optional - 1 Cup Raisins (I use white or blonde raisins)

Here's how you do it...

1. Cook the egg noodles according to the package instructions for al dente. Drain.
2. Melt the Cream Cheese and Margarine together and allow to cool slightly.
3. In the same pot you used to boil the noodles (why wash 2 things)...Blend together the Sour Cream, Pineapple Cottage Cheese, Sugar (or Splenda) eggs, yogurts, melted and slightly cooled cream cheese and margarine, and the raisins (if you're using raisins).
4. Toss with the cooked and drained noodles.
5. Spread into a buttered or sprayed 15 X 9 x 2" baking dish.
6. Sprinkle with Cinnamon.
7. Bake for 1 hour at 350F until golden.

Delicious warm or cold.