Salmon and Artichoke Kugel

I had planned to make a salmon salad for lunches during Passover, but it was cold and rainy half the time and I made matzoh pizzas instead.  This left me with a can of salmon in the pantry.  I had also bought a brick of cream cheese in case the munchies led me to bake a cheesecake.  You never know.  Then I ended up with half a dozen artichokes about to bloom at the same time, and here's a recipe.

For those unfamiliar with the term, a kugel is basically the Jewish name for a noodle or potato casserole.  It can be sweet or savory.  Kugel can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert.  It often contains cheese and is usually held together with an egg custard.

As for the noodles, yeah, good luck getting any right now.  I skipped buying pasta in the pre-panic days because of Passover.  Honestly, I didn't even try for this and just made a 2-egg/200g batch of Pasta #2.

I used fresh baby artichokes because that's what I had in the garden, but I'm recommending frozen in this recipe.  Anyone still going to Farmers' Markets can spend an hour doing it the hard way.  I want to know who bought all the boxes of frozen artichokes.  Someone in my neighborhood must have 8 of them.

Not gonna lie, there were a lot of dishes.  You'll have slightly less when using pre-packaged items, and it will cut an hour off the preparation time.  They were all washed by the time the casserole came out of the oven.

*1 15 oz can pink salmon, drained
*1 C frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped
8 oz dry egg noodles (about 3 C)
*4 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 C milk
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tb butter
*1 C diced yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dill
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
*1/4 C grated parmesan cheese

1.  Start cooking noodles according to package directions.  Use first tablespoon of butter to grease an 8" x 8" casserole.  Preheat oven to 350º.

2.  In a small skillet, sauté diced onion in the other tablespoon of butter over medium heat until softened.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, another minute.  Remove from heat and set aside.

3.  In food processor, pulse together cream cheese, egg, salt, pepper, dill, and red pepper flakes.  Add milk and turn into a sauce.

4.  Drain noodles when done and return to the pasta pot.  Add salmon, chopped artichokes, cooked onion, and cream sauce.  Toss to coat, then pour into casserole.  Top with parmesan, cover with foil or a lid, and cook 20 minutes, until sauce is bubbly.  Remove foil and cook until cheese on top is browned, another 5-10 minutes.  Allow to sit until no longer bubbling, about 5 minutes, then serve.

Difficulty rating  :)