Spiced Pear Kugel with Oat Crumble
In honor of all things delicious, I present a healthier, dairy-free KUGEL for your holidays!
Ingredients
KUGEL INGREDIENTS
- avocado or coconut oil for greasing and coating pasta
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 8 ounces extra wide egg noodles
- 2 ripe medium sized pears chopped into 1" pcs(apprx 2 cups. I use Bartlett*)
- 14 ounces extra firm tofu rinsed and patted dry(sub plain full fat cottage cheese)
- 8 ounces plain Kite Hill Cream Cheese (sub full fat dairy cream cheese)
- 6 large eggs room temp
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsalted cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice omit if using dairy options
- 1/2 cup raisins can use purple or golden
CRUMBLE INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup instant oats
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup avocado or melted coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 9x13x2 casserole dish with a thin layer of avocado or coconut oil. Bring a large pot of water to boil and season with 1 tablespoon sea salt. Add egg noodles, stir and boil 4 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside. If noodles are ready more than 15 minutes before casserole assembly, drizzle with a little bit of avocado or melted coconut oil and toss to present sticking.
- To a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, or to a food processor, add pears and tofu. Blend/process until mostly pureed (it’s ok if it’s still a little chunky). Add remaining ingredients and blend/process again until completely smooth. *This will be a very full blender, so be sure to use a tamper and start on the lowest setting. I also recommending holding a towel over the top while you blend.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Stir in raisins, then stir in noodles, making sure to distribute all ingredients evenly. Combine all crumble ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Sprinkle evenly over kugel. I actually like to swirl the crumble into the kugel mixture a little bit, using a knife.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and the top is set. If you want to be able to slice clean wedges of the kugel, allow to cool at least 1 hour. Otherwise, feel free to start scooping asap! Store leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator up to 5 days. You can also freeze up to 1 month.
Notes
*Your pears should give easily when pressed gently with your thumb and the skin should break. This means they’re ready for the recipe! Feel free to peel if you want to make sure your kugel doesn’t have any tiny bits of skin. I like them, personally! **Golden raisins are more tradition. You can also omit, but I would suggest subbing 2 tablespoons maple syrup if so
