Rosh Hashanah Kugel

Ingredients:

12 ounces extra-wide dried egg noodles

1/3 cup vegetable oil (corn or canola)

4 large eggs

Two 3.9-ounce (snack size) containers or 1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup wildflower or clover honey

1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 Jonagold or Gala apples, pared, cored, and sliced into thin semicircles (reserve 8 slices for garnish on top of kugel)

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (for topping)

Nonstick cooking spray or pareve margarine

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13 × 9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain but do not rinse. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil and stir gently with a rubber spatula to coat and separate all the noodles.
In a 2-quart mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs with a fork. Add the applesauce, honey, apple juice concentrate, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and combine.
Using a spatula, add the apple semicircles and raisins (if using) to the egg mixture.
Pour the apple mixture into the noodles. Mix gently, but thoroughly, and pour into the prepared pan. Place reserved apple slices down the center of the casserole.
Lightly grease the shiny side of a sheet of foil with nonstick spray and cover the casserole, greased side down.
Bake for 45 minutes and remove from the oven. Uncover, sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture, and lightly spray with cooking spray or dot with margarine. Return the uncovered casserole to the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Additional Notes:

Because honey is 1–1 1/2 times sweeter than sugar, less is needed to sweeten most recipes.
Covering a casserole with foil, dull side out, will help the food absorb heat from the oven without drying out.
Always bake a noodle kugel immediately after adding the egg mixture or the mixture will settle and create a rubbery layer on the bottom and the noodles will be dry on top.