Ödenburg casserole

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 200 g poppy seeds, freshly ground
• 50 g sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 50 g raisins
• Cinnamon powder
• Rum or brandy for the raisins
• e.g. milk (whole milk)
• e.g. breadcrumbs
• 6 eggs
• 200 g flour
• 1 liter milk (whole milk)
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 1 pinch of salt
• 80 g butter
• 70 g sugar, preferably Viennese baking sugar, i.e. very fine granulated sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

sweet pasta casserole with poppy seed filling

For the poppy seed filling, combine 200g freshly ground poppy seeds with 50g sugar, 1 1/2-2 tablespoons honey, and enough milk to form a semi-liquid mixture. Heat gently until boiling and season with a pinch of cinnamon and 50-60g raisins (which can be marinated in a little rum or brandy beforehand). If the filling is too soft after cooling, thicken it slightly with 1-3 tablespoons breadcrumbs. For the pasta mixture, prepare a pasta dough with 2 whole eggs (or 1 egg and 2 egg yolks) and the appropriate amount of flour (approx. 200g durum wheat flour). Roll it out thinly (using a pasta machine if necessary), and cut it into pencil-thick noodles. Bring 1 liter of whole milk to a boil with a pinch of salt and 1 packet of vanilla sugar. Add the pasta and cook slowly, stirring gently, until a thick mixture forms. Allow to cool. Cream 80g of softened butter with 50-60g of caster sugar until fluffy. Gradually stir in 4 egg yolks, then mix the cooled pasta mixture with this butter and egg yolk mixture. Beat the 4 egg whites with a pinch of salt and 20g of sugar until stiff peaks form, then fold the beaten egg whites into the pasta mixture. Fill a large baking dish greased with butter and sprinkled with breadcrumbs with half of the pasta mixture. Spread the poppy seed filling on top and finish with the remaining pasta mixture. Bake at approximately 200°C for about 40-60 minutes until golden brown (Caution! If the casserole is very tall, it may need to be baked more slowly to ensure the egg mixture is fully cooked in the center!). Serve hot! Notes: The serving size varies depending on whether the casserole is served as a sweet main course or as a dessert. I’ve also filled two dishes and frozen one for later use – it worked very well and tasted as if it were freshly made! Theoretically, you could also use ready-made, fresh egg pasta, but I’ve never tried that for this recipe.