Using her Grandma Rose’s recipe, our niece Gillian makes the best lokshen kugel. She serves it on a Friday night and when all the family gathers. I’m sure many people cook and enjoy much-loved dishes that have been handed down by forebears. This recipe, with a heritage that dates back at least four generations to my certain knowledge, is a case in point. As I have noted in many of my recipes, nostalgia adds a flavour that no other ingredient can match.
- 400g dried egg lokshen (use tagliatelle or wide egg noodles if you cannot find lokshen)
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
- 4 teaspoons of ground ginger
- 200g raisins
- 1 x 540g can of rhubarb, drained, or 4 sticks of fresh rhubarb cut into 12mm chunks
- 3 Bramley apples, peeled and coarsely grated
- 175g seedless raspberry jam
- Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 125g margarine, plus extra to coat the inside of the baking dish
- 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
- Preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4.
- Boil the lokshen or noodles until just al dente, strain and rinse with cold water.
- Put the lokshen back into the pan, add the margarine, jam, lemon zest and juice and stir over a low heat until well combined.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
- Grease a baking dish, pour in the lokshen mixture and smooth the top.
- Cover the dish with foil, place on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for 1½ hours.
- Remove the foil and bake for a further 45 minutes until the top of the kugel is well browned and sticky.
- Take the lokshen kugel out of the oven, sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar and, as Gillian pointed out in the recipe she sent me, all that’s left to do is: ‘Eat the bloody thing!’. Leftovers can be successfully frozen and reheated.
