The chaos of 2020 has had me craving comfort food and I decided to create a gluten-free version of one of my childhood favorite dishes. This gluten free noodles, apples and cottage cheese bowl with cinnamon is quite simply pure bliss. This easy-to-make, sweet and savory dish is a perfect alternative to Mac and Cheese and can be described as a non-baked version of a Noodle Kugel. It’s also a great recipe to make for the kids (or your inner-child, like I do). 🙂
I’m not sure how many bowls of noodles, apples and cottage cheese I ate as a child, but I’m guessing it must have been somewhere in the thousands. When I went to research this dish to find it’s roots, I was surprised to see it wasn’t very common. I believe this dish (like Noodle Kugel) has Jewish and Polish roots, but if any of you out there know it’s specific origins please let me know!
Admittedly, I was a bit nervous about sharing this recipe, as I imagine you will either absolutely LOVE it like I do, or you won’t want to go anywhere near it (like my husband). I coerced Mo into trying it after we shot these photos and he loved it just like me. He had never had (or even heard of) a noodle kugel, so I guess I’ll have to come up with a gluten-free version of that dish in time for Chanukah.
Gluten Free Noodles with Apples and Cottage Cheese
You will need:
8 oz. Gluten-free egg noodles (I used this brand)
16 oz. Cottage cheese
2 – 4 apples diced (I would recommend a tart apple like McIntosh or Fuji)
Ghee or butter to fry up the apples
Cinnamon to taste (I use Vietnamese Cinnamon)
*Use organic ingredients where possible
Method:
Prepare noodles as directed. While the noodles are boiling dice your apples. While you can certainly use any kind of gluten-free noodle to make this dish, I highly recommend using egg-noodles as (similar to noodle kugel recipes), it gives the dish a hearty and savory flavor.
Over medium-high heat, sauté  the apples in the ghee or butter until golden brown.
Strain the egg noodles and let cool for a few minutes… You’ll want the noodles to be warm, but not boiling hot as you want to warm the cheese and not cook it!
Add the cottage cheese, sautéed apples and cinnamon to taste and combine. Serve immediately.
Makes four servings.
The dish is best served warm, but you can store leftovers in the fridge and eat cold or re-heat to lukewarm.
Have you ever had a Noodles, Apples and Cottage Cheese Bowl? Please let me know if you tried and enjoyed this recipe in the comments below.
Photos by Mo Summers.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
xoxo,
Lisa
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I’m Polish and my mother used to make a similar dish I loved as a child. We used grated apples. Mix apples cinnamon, sugar and cooked pasta in a baking dish, put some bread crumbs and a little butter or margarine on top and bake it. Serve with a dollop of sour cream. It sure brings back memories !!
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I love this Agnes! So excited to find another person out there who grew up eating a similar dish! What did you call it?
I don’t recall an actual name for it.