Pumpkin Kugel

Pumpkin Kugel for Thanksgiving

How does one combine traditional Thanksgiving flavors with a Jewish food flare? Pumpkin Kugel.

I was lucky enough to cook this week with my brother and mom, and even more lucky to use all of my parent’s fancy cooking accessories and appliances: a souffle dish, egg white folder spatula, super high-tech egg beater and All-Clad pans. Cooking has instantly become SO much more fun… and pretty. While kugel is generally a dish served during the High Holidays and Passover, it has endless potential in flavor combinations that can make it appropriate for any time of year. Example: Thanksgiving

As we brainstormed the ingredients to include in a pumpkin kugel, my mom resurrected my bubbe’s trusty cookbook: The Complete American-Jewish Cookbook by the Homemakers Research Institute. It’s clearly really old. The recipe following is a riff on their egg souffle.

If you prefer to start with fresh pumpkin rather than canned, we have instructions on making pumpkin puree here.

ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

4 eggs, separated

1 can pumpkin

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves

pinch of salt

steps

1. Preheat oven to 325°F
2. Begin by making a roue. In a saucepan melt butter, then whisk in flour.
3. Gradually add milk and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture thickens.
4. In a separate bowl beat egg yolks and add slowly to the roue.
5. Add pumpkin and all seasonings.
6. Beat egg whites to a stiff peak in separate bowl. cut and fold in egg whites to the pumpkin mixture.
7. Pour into greased casserole or souffle dish and set in a shallow pan of hot water.
8. Bake at for 30-40 minutes until puffy and golden.

Pumpkin Kugel for Thanksgiving

lovely ingredients

melt that budda’

add the flour and let it cook

and the pumpkin goes in!

pumpkin roue post seasoning

beat up the egg whites

until they look like this :)

gently fold in the egg whites

and pop it in the oven!