‘Tis the season of matzah aka passover. It’s always interesting when passover and Easter fall on the same day/weekend – grocery stores are just extra packed which makes for a fun time shopping. I managed to get everything done though and the past 2 days have been full of cooking.

The oven has been on for many hours with lots of things coming in and out. This post is to talk about some of the side dishes that were made. A common side that my family loves to make is called a kugel. I guess the best description of it is a casserole. You can make a kugel out of lots of things – noodles, potato, zucchini, matzah. You basically mix your main ingredient with eggs and seasoning (and other things depending on the variety).

So the ones in my picture are apple farfel kugel (left) and tzimmes (right). The apple farfel is broken up matzah (called farfel) with sliced apple, cinnamon, eggs and sugar. The tzimmes* is a mix of grated carrot, sweet potato and apple with eggs, brown sugar, matzah meal (ground matzah), oil and cinnamon. You’re supposed to put prunes on top but I’m not a fan so I just skip them. You just baked both kugels for like 1 hour and then they’re ready to eat. They also reheat well so it’s perfect for make ahead dinners.

*Just a note on the tzimmes: traditionally, it is made in a pot with chunks of carrots and root vegetables (not grated), but my family has made it this way for years and I love it like this.

These are two of my favourite sides for the holidays. And I know they seem a little sweet (which they kind of are) but they are super tasty and go well with the main meal.

I hope you have a happy passover or good easter. If you don’t celebrate either, happy friday! Just go out, eat some good food and spend time with family and friends.