I’m not a kugel type of girl, but Jerusalem kugel, the peppery, caramelized, overnight version stole my heart.
The kugel is best served warm with a side of dill pickles.
View the video demo below for instructions.
Jerusalem kugel
Course: pastries, appetizersCuisine: Israeli, AshkenaziDifficulty: difficult10
servings30
minutes6
hoursJerusalem Kugel is an overnight, caramelized and peppery version of the Ashkenazi dish.
Thick egg noodles such as spaetzle or klusky are available at some specialty or international supermarkets, as well as online. You can also use bucatini or spaghetti pasta noodles.
You will need a small pot or a saucepan that measures about 7″ or 8″ round and 4″ tall, most 1½ – 2 quart saucepans work well.
If you can get a jachnoon pot from Israel (or Amazon) that would work the best.
You can also bake the kugel in 2 medium loaf pans.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. Thick egg noodles, preferably spaetzle or klusky
½ cup corn oil
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
6 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons black pepper
Dill pickles for serving
DIRECTIONS
- Cook the noodles according to the instructions on their package. Drain, and put back in the pot.
- Turn oven to 225 degrees. Grease the pot or pans (see note above about the size of pot you need.) Cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- Make the caramel – in a non-stick pan over medium heat cook sugar and oil until the sugar becomes golden amber in color. Do not stir, but instead just gently shake the pan frequently, to prevent from the bottom to burn, and stay by the pan the whole time! When the caramel is the right color, drizzle slowly all over the noodles while mixing the noodles, to avoid forming big chunks of caramel. Small chunks are fine.
- Add water, eggs, salt and pepper to the noodles and mix.
- Pour the noodle mixture into the prepared pot or pans and cover with a piece of parchment paper. Put the lid on. Tightly cover the whole pot or pans with aluminum foil to make sure the steam stays in during the long baking period.
- Put pot in the oven and bake overnight, or for 8 hours. Transfer to a cooling rack.
- Let kugel rest for 10 minutes. Release the sides with a knife, cover the opening with a plate and flip the kugel into it. Serve warm with a side of dill pickles. Jerusalem kugel keeps covered in the fridge up to 5 days.
Vered, for the yerushalmi kugel:
Can you prep it, refrigerate it, and then stick it in the oven later?
Does it matter if the caramel is not evenly distributed? (It solidified so quickly it was hard to mix.)
What happens if you increase the pepper?
Thank you!
Hi Amy, thanks for your questions.
you can prep, put in the pan and bake the day after, but no later than that (because of the raw eggs.)
The caramel always hardens too fast for me too… it is fine, as long as the chunks of caramel are not too large. If they are, you can break the chunks to smaller, ½ inch – 1 inch chunks and distribute them in the kugel. They will melt during the baking time.
As for the black pepper, this recipe has quite a lot of pepper! But if you tried it before and would like it to be even more peppery, go ahead and do it! It makes it pretty spicy, but in a good way. Enjoy!
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