I can’t imagine Hanukkah without latkes, the much cherished potato pancakes. But, as much as I adore latkes, I find it too labor intensive to stand at the stovetop and cook one latke after another for the eight days of Hanukkah. Not to mention the oil odor that clings to clothes and hovers over every corner of the house for days. A leaner alternative, potato kugel satisfies my family’s cravings for the fried spud. Tucking a layer of tomato-turkey sauce inside the kugel, provides a complete meal, especially when paired with a side of vegetable. I call this dish the Jewish Shepherdess Pie; my son—a Fifth grader— calls it exquisite. Latke is a holiday food in our household, eaten only during Hanukkah. This pie, on the other hand, is more of a guiltless pleasure and, as such, it is enjoyed all year round. It is simply a delicious comfort food.
The custom of eating food cooked in oil during Hanukkah evolved from the miracle of the single jug of oil that lasted for eight days. Some claim that the pancakes were originally made from cheese. This won’t be surprising. Latkes are an Ashkenazi food and Ashkenazi Jews, like all Jews, celebrated Hanukkah for hundreds of years before the potato was introduced to Europe a little over four centuries ago. One explanation for the transition to potato pancakes is that potato’s harvest time in Europe falls in autumn, just before Hanukkah. In fact, in Denmark, fall vacation was called potato-vacation, as children were off from school to help out with potato harvest. I am not sure I’d call harvesting a vacation. I picked onions on a Kibbutz when I was in high school as a volunteer. It is a break-your-back kind of job. I doubt my kids would choose to harvest potatoes, even if it meant taking off from school.
This dish is very easy to make. It requires your favorite potato kugel recipe. At times I cook the tomato-turkey sauce from scratch. Here, I offer a version that is semi-homemade, using store-bought tomato pasta sauce.
Jewish Shepherdess Pie
Makes 8 very generous portions
Ingredients:
1 potato kugel recipe
1 large jar of your favorite tomato pasta sauce
1 lb. ground turkey meat
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Instructions:
1.First, prepare the turkey sauce. Sauté ground turkey in olive oil, until cooked. Add tomatopasta sauce. Cook until sauce is thickened. Make sure sauce is not runny.
2.Prepare your favorite potato kugel recipe. Oil a baking pan that will hold your kugel recipe.
3.Spread half the amount of the kugel mix on the bottom of the oiled pan.
4.Spread the tomato-turkey sauce over the kugel mix.
5.Spread the rest of the potato kugel mix over the turkey sauce.
6.Bake in 350 d. F oven for 35-40 minutes, till golden brown on top.
Tips and suggestions:
1.I use a 9×13 pyrex baking pan or 2 9×9 pans. You can use one and freeze one.
2.You may add sautéed onion and your favorite herbs to the tomato sauce.
3.Because two of us are vegetarians, I divide the kugel between three 8×8 baking pans. I then dividethe turkey sauce between two pans, and bake a third pan as a vegetarian dish.
4.As a vegetarian option, I suggest cooking in the pasta sauce crumbled tuna from a can, instead ofground turkey.
Let me know how you liked it.
Enjoy!
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