Noodle Kugel

I find it hard to believe that I've made it this far in life and never had Kugel before. I first happened across a recipe for Kugel in Mollie Katzen's Pretend Soup cookbook for kids. Her version is a cold and egg-less one, simple for kids to throw together. Though intriguing, the baked version I found at Smitten Kitchen sounded much more my style, and the story she tells about it was enough to make me want to try it. I followed the recipe fairly closely, not ever having made the dish before, and it was YUMMY. The taste reminded me of blintzes, which I adore. The kids liked it somewhat, but I don't think they cared for the chewiness of the cottage cheese or the crunchiness of the noodles on top, so I had another idea...

I started with a pureed mixture of cottage cheese plus a bit of milk (about 1/4 cup to 1 cup of cottage cheese). I combined the remaining mixture ingredients and poured it over the UNCOOKED noodles in the baking dish. I let this sit overnight so the noodles would soften and soak up the extra liquid. I dotted the top with frozen sweet black cherries before baking. The result was quite similar in taste, but the texture was much softer, though the noodles held their definition. I will probably play around with it indefinitely when I make it again, as that's what I normally do, but the result was definitely satisfying!