Vegetable Kugel With Homemade Noodles

Cook the vegetable filling...
Dry the noodles a bit before cooking...
Boil 'em up...
Dig in!


I had an abundance of eggs, so of course I made noodles. I also had a block of frozen spinach, a few carrots and some onions, and ends of cheese. I think you know where this is going. I've always cooked this way, and as a result waste very little week to week.

You could make this with store-bought noodles. It will be a bit heavier, but there's nothing wrong with that-kugel tends to be substantial fare. This is also super cut into squares and packed in the lunchbox. It keeps well and will taste as good on day three as it did the day you made it.

For the noodles:

3 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
3 tablespoons ice water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semolina flour
1-2 cups AP flour

Beat the eggs until light. Add water and salt and stir in semolina. Add as much AP flour as you can until you have a stiff dough. Nead a couple minutes, then wrap in clingfilm and let rest 30 minutes. Roll out paper-thin (I used a machine) and cut into 3 in x 1 in strips. Or thereabouts-I don't get all dictatorial about how people cut their pasta, or vegetables or the like. Once cut, dredge in a bit of flour and let dry out on racks for about 30 minutes. Then, cook, or transfer to plastic bags in the fridge if cooking later.

For the cheese filling:

1 lb. 4% cottage cheese, drained of most liquid (you don't want it bone dry)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups grated swiss cheese
2 large eggs

Mix well and keep chilled until needed.

For the vegetable filling:

3 carrots, finely diced
2 onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 box frozen spinach-cooked, drained and squeezed dry in a dishtowel
4 sage leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Pepper to taste (I did not use salt as the cheese is loaded with more than enough)
Olive oil for cooking

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and cook the onions over medium heat until softened. Add the carrots, herbs, and garlic and cook until carrots are soft. In the last couple minutes, break up the spinach and add it as well. If it looks dry, add some extra oil.

Put it together:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 dish. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the noodles briefly-about 4 minutes. Drain. In the same pot (why dirty another?) combine the noodles, vegetables and cheese mixture. Mix well to distribute. Pour into baking dish and top with either buttered bread crumbs, crushed black pepper potato chips (that's what I used) or leave unadorned. Bake about 1 hour, but start checking at 45 minutes. The top should be nicely browned. Let stand a few minutes before cutting.