Simpe and Easy Kugel Recipe

For those of you who may not be familiar with traditional Jewish recipes, a kugel (sometimes spelled coogle) is simply a noodle pudding. I guess the closest approximation would be a bread pudding. This recipe was handed down from my grandmother and has always been a favorite of mine. It really complements most meals and can be served as a dessert or even a side dish. It can be a bit heavy, so consider what else you are serving that night. I once served a kugel for dessert after serving lasagna for the main course. We were all stuffed to the gills and had to sit very still for the rest of the night for fear of explosion. Here's all it takes to put it together:

Ingredients

1lb wide egg noodles
1lb cottage cheese (fat free can be used if you're trying to be health conscious)
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar (artificial sweeteners can be used, but I find they don't mix as well as confectioner's sugar in this recipe)
1 16oz can crushed pineapple
Cinnamon to taste
Optional: Corn Flakes - (Frosted Flakes can be substituted if you want things a bit sweeter)
Optional: ½ cup raisins

Directions
Cook the noodles until they are almost done, but still a little hard. Drain and put in a large bowl
Melt the butter or margarine and add it to the noodles

Fold in the three eggs

Stir in the sugar

Drain the pineapple (if you don't it will keep the kugel from holding together) and fold it into the bowl

Add cinnamon to taste

Grease a CorningWare or other casserole dish and pour in the mixture. Make sure the dish is deep enough that you can make the kugel about 2-3" deep. Otherwise, the size and shape of the dish is not of great concern.

Place the dish in an oven preheated to 375 degreees.

Cook for about 25-35 minutes or until the noodles on top start to get crispy.

About 5-10 minutes before you are ready to take the kugel out of the oven, add a layer of corn flakes (or frosted flakes over the top). If you add the corn flakes too early they tend to get soggy and you are looking for the top to be uniformly crispy.

Take out of the oven and serve hot! However as a guilty pleasure, I really do enjoy a slab of kugel cold right out of the fridge.

Serves 4-6 easily