fabulous cauliflower Kugel

Three ways: Pareve (vegetarian), meat, or dairy

Are we making cauliflower kugel because we want a low calorie alternative to potato kugel? We are not.

We’re making cauliflower kugel because it’s a delicious vegetable side dish, and yet another thing we can do with the lowly cauliflower, a vegetable that has become so popular in recent years.

This recipe is a little more complex than some others you’ll find, but through my experimentation, the extra steps are worth it.

I’ve played with this recipe several times on my journey from good to fabulous. Now I’m there, finally at fabulous, and so I’m ready to share it with you. It’s crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and full of flavor. And maybe it’s cheating, but I found that adding one potato improves the texture and adds to the creaminess. You can leave it out if you’re a cauliflower purist; the kugel will still work.

“What’s a kugel?” you ask? A kugel is essentially a pudding that can be cut into slices, usually squares, and served. The word comes from the German, and means “ball.” Kugels are widely enjoyed by Ashkenazi Jews, and are most often served for holidays and Shabbat, although there’s no reason why we can’t make a kugel anytime we want a kugel. This week, I’m making it as part of my menu for Parasha Shemini.

The most common kugels are a savory potato kugel, which usually has a fair amount of onion, and a noodle kugel, which is usually sweet and can be made either dairy or pareve. Click here for the recipe for my fabulous Potato Kugel. Click here for the recipe for my mother’s Sweet Dairy Noodle Kugel.

In recent years, cooks have produced kugels made from all sorts of vegetables, with happy results. I think if you try this one once, you’ll be making it again. It makes a lot, but that will be a good thing. It re-heats well … and it’s pretty good cold, too.

Fabulous Cauliflower Kugel

Ingredients:

• 2 large yellow onions

• 1 large head of cauliflower

• 1 large russet potato

• 6 large eggs

• 1½ cup liquid of your choice—chicken stock, vegetable stock, or milk

• about ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (a little more for sautéing), divided

  optional: swap out ¼ cup of olive oil for schmaltz

• 2-3 large cloves garlic, minced or pressed

• ¼ cup chopped fresh dill fronds

• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or a little more, to taste

• kosher salt, or to taste (the amount will depend upon the saltiness of your stock)

• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• ¼ cup potato starch

• sweet paprika to dust the top

Preheat the oven to 450°

Prepare the cauliflower—

• Grab your cauliflower. Start by cutting off the stem and the attached leaves. Then cut the whole thing in half, vertically, through the core. Make a few attractive looking slices, from the center, the tallest part, about ¼ inch thick. Set them aside. You’ll use these to decorate the top of the kugel. Coarsely chop the rest of the cauliflower.

• Prepare the onions—

This is the twist: It’s the combination of sweet caramelized onion with the punch of raw onion that gives this kugel its over-the-top flavor.

• Cut one of the onions into small dice. Pour a dash of olive oil into a pan and sauté the onion over medium-low heat until it’s lightly caramelized. Sautéing it slowly allows the onion time to release all of its sugars. Then set caramelized onion aside.

• Grate the other onion with a box grater. You’ll want to do this over a bowl so that you don’t lose one drop of onion juice. When you get to the point where you’re about to grate your knuckles, just chop the rest. You could also do all this in a mini chopper and then transfer it to a bowl. Add the caramelized onion to the bowl with the grated onion.

• Prepare the custard—

• Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until well combined and frothy.

• Add the stock to the eggs and whisk until the mixture is totally homogenous. Reserve ¼ cup of this “custard.”

• Putting it all together—

• To the bowl with the custard, add ¼ cup of the olive oil (or the schmaltz), the onions, the garlic, the dill, the nutmeg, and the pepper. I recommend grating a fresh nutmeg if you can. The flavor is miles beyond the stuff in the jar, and it takes seconds to do. Whole nutmeg is usually available in the spice aisle. I recommend this microplane for grating. I’ve had mine for years and it never fails.

• Peel the potato and grate it on the large holes of a box grater, directly into the bowl so that the potato doesn’t oxidize.

• In a small bowl, mix the potato starch with the reserved custard and whisk it well so that there are no lumps. Then pour the mixture into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

• Add the cauliflower to the bowl, retaining those nice pieces you’ve reserved for the top. Stir it well to be sure that all the cauliflower is coated with the egg mixture. With the tip of a finger, taste the mixture for salt. (tasting it hasn’t killed me yet)

• The best pan to use for a thick kugel is 9” X 9”. If you want a thinner kugel, use a 9” X 13” pan. Pour in 2—4 tablespoons of olive oil into the pan. You want it to completely cover the bottom of the pan, somewhat generously. Be sure to brush some oil up the sides of the dish so that your kugel doesn’t stick. Slide the pan with the oil into the oven to get the oil good and hot, for about 10 minutes. This is the secret to crispy kugel.

• Very carefully, remove the hot baking dish from the oven and set it down on the stove top. Pour in the kugel batter, gently to avoid having that hot oil splash on you. Smooth the top and artfully arrange the reserved pretty cauliflower slices over the top. Try to work quickly so the pan doesn’t cool off.

• Evenly drizzle another 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top. (The larger pan will have more surface area and need more than the smaller pan.) Then lightly sprinkle the paprika over the top. Return the pan to the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350°.

• Bake the kugel for 1 ½ hours, or until it’s set and the top has turned golden brown. I start checking it after an hour. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool a few minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

• Here’s a tip: If you want to make the kugel in advance, take it out of the oven after it’s set, but before it browns. Then, when you’re ready to serve it, slide it into the oven for about 15-20 minutes in a 350° oven to heat it through and brown the top.