Noodle kugel with raisins is a recipe that reminds me of my childhood, often cooked in the Hungarian community in Transylvania. This dessert combines boiled noodles with cottage cheese baked in the oven; simple and very tasty.
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My version today differs a little from the one in Transylvania called “Vargabeles” because in that the pasta with cheese is baked between two sheets of puff pastry, and I will not do that; I have simplified them a little. I called it noodle kugel with raisins because it’s closer to the traditional Ashkenazi Jewish recipe, served on the Sabbath or the Jewish holidays.
Suppose you want to try other dessert recipes from Transylvania. You must also taste the sweet fried semolina pudding recipe, the best easy apple cake recipe or the perfect yeast doughnuts.
Let’s Talk About Ingredients
The recipe has two basic ingredients, pasta and cheese, so to bake a tray of this dessert, enough for eight people, I used 500 g of pasta and a kilogram of cheese.
The most suitable pasta for this type of recipe, in my opinion is the slightly wider ones, such as tagliatelle or fettuccine, although there are recipes in which others use thin soup noodles. I will use fresh tagliatelle because I like it and I think they are the most suitable.
As for the cheese, you can use any cottage cheese or curd cheese, and I will use curd cheese cream because I found it more interesting.
Let’s remember the rest of the ingredients, and we need three fresh eggs, 100 g of sugar, 70 g of raisins, a grated peel of a lemon and a teaspoon of essence or vanilla extract.
How to Make the Noodle Kugel With Raisins?
Boiling the Tagliatelle
The first time I have to boil the noodle pasta because they are fresh, I will put them in boiling water with a little salt and boil for about five minutes.
After they boiled, I poured noodles into a strainer to drain the water from them and let them cool a bit while I prepared the cheese.
Preparing the Cheese Mix
I put the cream cheese in a bowl and added the rest of the ingredients, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla essence. Whenever we prepare something sweet, it is advisable to add a little salt that will highlight the sweet taste of the dish; that’s why I added a quarter teaspoon of sea salt.
With an electric mixer, I mixed the cream cheese with the ingredients until all the sugar dissolves, and we get a slightly softer, more fluid cream.
Now I add the raisins that I kept a little in hot water (in which you can put a little rum essence) to rehydrate so that they will be softer and better.
Separately, in another bowl, with the help of the electric mixer, I will beat the egg whites until I get a consistent foam but not very hard.
Combine the Noodles With the Cheese Mix
The cheese cream mix is ready, the noodles have cooled a bit, and we will combine them. In a larger bowl in which we can mix them easily, pour the cream cheese over the tagliatelle.
With a wooden spoon, mix lightly so that, if possible we can not crush the pasta, but the cheese reaches everywhere, to cover the noodles well.
To make the dessert airier, I will pour half of the egg white foam, and I will also easily incorporate it with a wooden spoon. I keep the other half of the foam for later.
I prepare an oven tray, I chose one of 30.5 cm that I line with baking paper, and I will pour the whole composition into it.
With a spatula, I levelled the composition in the tray to reach everywhere and to be at the same level, after which I will put it in the oven.
Baking the Noodle Kugel With Raisins Dessert
Usually, I like to cover this type of dessert with foil and bake it like this in the first part, so I put it in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
After that, I removed the foil and added the rest of the remaining egg white foam and levelled it over the dessert.
I put the tray back in the oven, this time without foil, for another ten minutes until it acquires a beautiful golden colour. When it is ready, take the tray out of the oven and let it cool to room temperature so we can cut it.
This was my noodle kugel with raisins recipe, made in my style, as simple as they are tasty and which I invite you to serve together.
Serving the Noodle Kugel
As a serving style, I recommend cutting the noodle kugel with raisins into cubes, sprinkling a little powdered sugar on top and enjoying it with a delicious blueberry or black cherry jam. So Good!!!
If you liked my noodle kugel with cottage cheese and raisins recipe and are you curious to find other cheese dessert recipes from our kitchen, I recommend you try:
- Best Cottage Cheese Dumplings
- Traditional Baked Cheesecake Recipe
- The Best Russian Cheesecake Recipe
- Best Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe
- Cream Cheese Filling Crepes Recipe
- Cottage Cheese Donuts-Transylvanian Recipe
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Noodle Kugel With Raisins
Equipment
- 1 Soup Pot
- 1 strainer
- 2 mixing bowl
- 1 electric mixer
- 1 baking tray
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh tagliatelle or tagliatelle or fettuccine pasta
- 1 kg cheese cream or cottage cheese or curd cheese
- 3 pieces eggs free range
- 70 g raisins or sultanas
- 100 g sugar granulated or powdered
- 1 pieces lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla essence or extract
- ¼ tsp sea salt kosher
Instructions
- Put the noodles in boiling water with a little salt and boil for about five minutes. Pour the noodles into a strainer to drain and let them cool a bit.
- Put the cream cheese in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, salt and vanilla essence.
- Mix with an electric mixer the cream cheese with the ingredients, until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the raisins that I previously kept a little in hot water to rehydrate.
- In another bowl with the help of the electric mixer, beat the egg whites until get a consistent foam.
- In a larger bowl pour the cream cheese over the tagliatelle. With a wooden spoon mix lightly until the cheese reaches everywhere and cover the noodles well.
- Pour half of the egg white foam and also easily incorporate it with a wooden spoon.
- Prepare an oven tray with baking paper and pour the whole composition into it.
- Cover with aluminium foil and put it in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and add the rest of the remaining egg white foam on the top and put the tray back in the oven, for another ten minutes until it acquires a beautiful golden colour.
- After cooling, cut the noodle kugel with raisins into cubes or bars, sprinkled it with powdered sugar and serve with blueberry jam.
