Enjoy a Sweet Kugel this Jewish New Year

The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) starts this Sunday night and for those who are unfamiliar with the religion or the holiday, here is the ‘cole notes’ version.

Jewish New Year provides us with a new beggining. A time to make amends but more importantly, prepare for the year ahead. When it comes to the Jewish New Year, and most Jewish holiday celebrations in general, food plays a very important part. Not only because the holidays are meant to be celebrated by eating a big feast with family, friends (and even strangers), but also because we eat a lot of symbolic foods that tie in to the theme of the holiday and are specific for the season.

Some of the symbolic foods for Rosh Hashana include:

• Fish head (other than my mom, I don’t know anyone that actually eats this). This is to symbolize that we should be ahead (or the head) of the pack. This could mean for our health, success or anything else that we may wish for.
• Pomegranates. Since a pomegranate is full of seeds, we hope we’ll be similarly full of merits in the coming year. It’s also a seasonal fruit which we use for a blessing to give gratitude for being.
• Round Challa (egg bread). Like all things round, there is no start or finish. Circular challahs represent unending cycle of life and the hope that another year round will be granted.
• Honey. Known for its sweetness, we dip apples, which are the seasonal fruit in honey to represent the hope that we will have a sweet and happy year. In fact, we dip pretty much everything in honey… it’s the best!

We generally tend to plan our meal around these aforementioned concepts. Namely, we try to eat very sweet dishes. A good friend of mine, who was one of the first friends I made when I moved to Canada in 1989, agreed to share her mom’s Noodle Pudding (aka Lokshin Kugel) recipe with my readers.

Together with her mom and son (who was home sick), they cooked this sweet dish together which is exactly what the Jewish holidays are all about; gathering of the family and reminiscing over traditions. Preparing for the holiday meals is a big part of that, especially when it’s across multiple generations like my friend’s experience.

They changed the original recipe slightly to use the delicious Gay Lea Nordica Smooth Vanilla Cottage Cheese.  While she loves the original version of the recipe, she did note that the substitution made it even better!  Not to mention, Nordica Smooth Cottage Cheese is packed with 10g of protein per serving, and only 110 calories! She’s thrilled to share the new version of the traditional dish with her children along their grandparents.

Whether you’re celebrating Rosh Hashana or not, I would highly recommend trying out this delicious and sweet dish that can be served as a main dish or dessert. I bet you won’t be able to have just one serving!

Lokshin Kugel Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 package of extra wide noodles, 6 tbsp butter, 4 containers of Gay Lea Nordica Smooth Vanilla Cottage Cheese  smooth, 1/2 package of cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 4 eggs, 2/3 container of Gaylea Nordica 2% cottage cheese, cinnamon (to taste).

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil noodles according to package instructions.
3. Beat eggs, sugar, cream cheese and Gay Lea Nordica Smooth Vanilla Cottage Cheese  smooth.  Set aside.
4. Mix noodles with Gay Lea cottage cheese in 11 x 13 pan.
5. Pour egg mixture over and sprinkle with cinnamon.
6. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until top is slightly browned.

Disclosure: I am part of the Gay Lea Ambassador Campaign and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.