Lapshevnik: Noodle Casserole with Raisins and Dried Apricots
Ingredients
4 servings
- For the noodles
- Noodles (dry) 250 g
- Water for boiling the noodles 2.5 l
- Salt for boiling the noodles 13 g
- For the filling
- Light raisins 0.5 cup (70 g)
- Dark raisins 0.5 cup (70 g)
- Dried apricots 100 g
- Walnuts (shelled) to taste
- Boiling water for the raisins and dried apricots as needed
- For the custard
- Whole milk 2 cups (400 ml)
- Eggs 3
- Sugar 3 heaped tbsp (or to taste) (60 g)
- Vanillin a pinch
- For the dish and serving
- Butter 50 g
- Honey optional
Step-by-step recipe
How to boil the noodles
Homemade noodles are quite hard to make. The main difficulties are the right flour and rolling the dough out into a thin sheet. You can find the flour if you look around, but without some skill it is very hard to roll the dough thin. So, given the lack of experience, it is easier to buy good ready-made Italian noodles.
“Old” lapshevnik recipes recommend boiling the noodles in milk until done. But, as it turned out, it is very hard to cook Italian noodles in milk. So it is better to simply boil the pasta in water.
Boil 250 g of noodles in 2.5 l of boiling water with 13 g of salt over high heat until done, following the time on the package. Then drain in a colander and let the water run off.
Transfer the pasta to a deep bowl, cover with a plate and let it cool to room temperature.
How to prepare the dried fruit and nuts
To make lapshevnik you need a variety of dried fruits. Pitted dried apricots are a must. Sweet seedless raisins are a must too. For looks, it is worth taking both light and dark raisins. Add shelled walnuts. If you like, don’t limit yourself: you can use your favorite and available dried fruits and candied fruit.
While the pasta is boiling, pour boiling water over the raisins and dried apricots so they swell a little and soften. You can chop the apricots or use them whole.
Lightly toast the shelled walnut kernels in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant.
Add the prepared apricots and raisins (drained) and the nuts to the cooled pasta. Crush the nuts a little by hand to make the large pieces smaller. Mix the pasta so the nuts and dried fruit are spread evenly.
How to make the custard and assemble the lapshevnik
Make the custard. Crack the eggs into a deep bowl, add sugar and vanillin to taste. I added three heaped tablespoons of sugar (60 g) and a pinch of natural vanillin. Beat the eggs and sugar with a mixer until foamy. Add 2 cups of boiled milk (400 ml), cooled to room temperature, to the beaten eggs and mix.
Pour the egg and milk mixture over the cooled pasta with the dried fruit and nuts and mix. If the pasta hasn’t cooled, the eggs may curdle, so don’t rush.
Grease a large cake pan with butter. Put the pasta in the pan and level it with a spatula.
How to bake the lapshevnik
Put the pan in an oven preheated to 180°C and bake the lapshevnik for 30-40 minutes. The surface of the casserole should brown just a little, and the middle should bake through. When the lapshevnik is done, take the pan out of the oven.
Serving
Cut the lapshevnik into portions, put them on plates and serve.
You can also garnish it with whole dried fruit and even drizzle it with honey: kids will be delighted.
Lapshevnik goes very well with warm milk or cherry kissel.
Calories and macros
635 kcal
Serving ≈ 340 g
- Protein20 g13% of kcal
- Fat16 g23% of kcal
- Carbs101 g64% of kcal
100 g184 kcalProtein 5.8 gFat 4.7 gCarbs 29.4 g
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.