Easy Yerushalmi Kugel

Last Thursday night I settled into my favorite position on the couch for my pre-Shabbat catch-up phone call with my daughter-in-law: feet up and two throw cushions tucked under my head. Two of her boys, my grandsons Aaron and Shimon, aged eleven and nine respectively, often contribute a special dish to the Shabbat meals. They bring the same steady, methodical application to their cooking and baking as they do to the complex Lego structures that they enjoy building. When my daughter-in-law mentioned that Aaron had prepared a Yerushalmi kugel that week, I was happy that I was lying down.

Easy Yerushalmi Kugel

“Are you telling me that an eleven-year-old boy caramelized sugar?!!”, one of the usual steps in preparing this specialty of Jerusalem. When my daughter-in-law replied in the affirmative, I was struck dumb. I don’t think that I successfully mastered that culinary skill until I needed bifocals to read a recipe. Yerushalmi kugel, beloved by Jews the world over, is a dark, dense kugel that is bound together with eggs, caramel, and sharpened with a heaping measure of black pepper. The edges of the kugel crisp as it bakes, providing a crunchy contrast to the soft noodles in the middle. I have been making this recipe for easy Yerushalmi kugel, published in the community cookbook, Tried and True, by Bikur Cholim of Toronto, for many years. And the good news is that this simple recipe skips the tricky step of caramelizing sugar in oil without missing any of the sweet, nutty flavor, deeply burnished color, and crunchy exterior of a traditional Yerushalmi kugel.

Assemble your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Add the fine noodles to a 4-quart pot of boiling water that has been seasoned with salt. Allow the noodles to come to a boil and continue to cook until the noodles are soft, about 8 minutes. Drain the noodles and set them aside. Allow the noodles to cool for 10 minutes before continuing with the recipe.

There is no need to caramelize the sugar in oil in this easy recipe. Pour the oil into a 9-inch round pan with 2 1/2-inch sides or a 9X13-inch pan.  Place the pan with oil, in the oven to preheat. Combine the eggs, dark brown sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine the ingredients into a smooth batter. Add the cooled noodles. Remove the pan with the hot oil from the oven and drizzle half of the oil into the egg and noodle mixture. Be sure to add the oil slowly or you will wind up with scrambled eggs. Give the egg and noodle mixture a good stir and pour it into the pan with the remaining oil. Carefully return the pan with the kugel mixture to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the kugel is dark golden and the top is slightly hardened and crusty, 1 hour .

When the kugel has completed cooking, remove it from the oven and allow the pan to rest on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. If you baked the kugel in a 9X13-inch pan, you’re done. If you used a 9-inch round pan, invert the kugel onto a large plate. You are now looking at the bottom of the kugel. (See the second photo above). Place your serving plate over the bottom kugel that is facing upwards. Holding on to the two plates, flip the kugel so that the top of the kugel is facing upward and your serving plate is on the bottom. Serve while still warm or at room temperature.

Print Recipe

Easy Yerushalmi Kugel

Vegetables and Sides

By Tried and True, Bikur Cholim Toronto – Serves: 8-10

Prep Time: 20 minutes – Cooking Time: 60 minutes – Total Time: 80 minutes

A dark, dense kugel that is bound together with eggs, dark brown sugar that caramelizes as it bakes, and sharpened with a heaping spoonful of black pepper.

Ingredients

• 1 (12-oz.) package fine noodles
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt + more for the pot of noodles
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup oil

Instructions

1

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions. Rinse and drain well. Set aside.

2

Pour the oil into a 9-inch round pan with 3-inch sides or a 9X13-inch pan.  Place the pan with oil, in the oven to preheat. Combine the eggs, dark brown sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Whisk to combine the ingredients into a smooth batter. Add the cooled noodles.

3

Remove the pan with the hot oil from the oven and drizzle half of the oil into the egg and noodle mixture. Be sure to add the oil slowly or you will wind up with scrambled eggs. Give the egg and noodle mixture a good stir and pour it into the pan with the remaining oil.

4

Carefully return the pan with the kugel mixture to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the kugel is dark golden and the top is slightly hardened and crusty, 1 hour . 

5

When the kugel has completed cooking, remove it from the oven and allow the pan to rest on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. If you baked the kugel in a 9X13-inch pan, you're done. If you used a 9-inch round pan, invert the kugel onto a large plate. You are now looking at the bottom of the kugel. Place your serving plate over the bottom kugel that is facing upwards. Holding on to the two plates, flip the kugel so that the top of the kugel is facing upward and your serving plate is on the bottom. Serve while still warm or at room temperature.

Notes

Leftover Yerushalmi kugel will keep for at least five days in the fridge, and reheats well in a 350-degree oven. Adjust the pepper to your preferences. Adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper will produce a kugel with a muted growl. More pepper, more bite.