It was probably sometime around late high school when I realized that haluski comes in all shapes and sizes. That was also the time I realized, being the Eastern European descendant that I am, I’m a dough-and-butter kinda gal.

I worked in a local restaurant, and each Friday we’d dish out haluksi that was perfectly peppered (shout out to Cathy if she’s reading this) with the right amount of noodles and cabbage.

It was Miss Cathy’s take on the recipe that made me fall in love with how she made it, and I haven’t found another kind quite like hers. You can bet I’ll keep trying to replicate it until my dying day. This recipe with noodles was such a stark difference than the one I grew up knowing, made lovingly by Nana.

Ours has cubed potatoes, some chopped onions (as always, I add the sweeter kind), butter, tiny dumplings and my favorite part — cottage cheese.

Back in 2019, my grandma asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner, because even though I was headed into my mid-30s, she and Poppa still spoiled me. Of course I said I wanted haluski.

It was an offensively muggy, rainy day in June and she whipped up some of her mouthwatering haluski, which she made to go with sloppy joes, a dish I can’t stand.

So at dinner it was my grandparents, Uncle Bill and I. Uncle Bill and I dove into the haluski, and he ate his share, and some of mine, of the sloppy joes. I remember at one point, we stopped, each sitting back and actually wiping sweat off our foreheads before we finished our servings of the haluski. It’s a memory we laugh at to this day.

Friends do not eat haluski and sloppy joes. If I were smart, I would’ve asked for a pasta salad and grilled chicken or something.

This week you get two recipes for the price of one. For my haluski, though, I’m doctoring it a smidge.

Cube up a bunch of potatoes, add some of those thick, homestyle egg noodles, chop up like half an onion, and get a half of a stick of butter ready.

Don’t forget the cottage cheese. I just eyeball it and throw in about a cup for starters. Since that’s my favorite part of this recipe, I just measure it with my heart.

Peel and cook your potatoes just enough so they aren’t super soft and cook the noodles. Saute the onions. Mix it all together and add a couple of dashes of salt, pepper and any other spices you want.

Haluski has been a staple at most holidays since I can remember, and with Easter weekend upon us, why not share something near and dear to my heart with you? Also sharing her mom’s “tried-and-true” haluski recipe is Lisa, a Lovin’ Spoonful reader. It’s a great dish for a family gathering, she said, and it sounds like a serving of home if you ask me. Whether you’re celebrating Easter or wrapping up Passover, I hope you enjoy both takes on haluski.

Gram V’s Haluski

Ingredients

1 stick butter

1 large onion

1 small or medium head of cabbage

2 tablespoons Nature’s Seasoning

1 box bow tie noodles

Directions

Boil pasta per directions on the package.

Chop up the onion and shred cabbage.

Saute the onion, adding cabbage and seasoning.

Cook until the cabbage is soft.

Mix everything together.

You can transfer into a slow cooker and keep it on the warm setting.

Share your favorite recipes and memories with Features Editor Ashley Fox at afox@tribtoday.com.