As Los Angeles Chef Suzanne Tracht says, Passover is all about the matzoh balls. They’re easy to make — and I will sidestep the “sinkers or floaters” debate — and she shows us how in this short video from Epicurious.
What startled me here was her mention of matzoh ball mix to make them, when starting with matzoh meal is a breeze, and her recipe that accompanies the video does in fact begin with meal as I expected.
Many people swear by the from scratch recipe on boxes of Manischewitz matzoh meal and you’ll find it below the video. Tracht’s recipe includes her non-traditional lemongrass consomme for matzoh ball soup.
Matzoh Ball Soup
From Manischewitz
2 tablespoons oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup Manischewitz® Matzo Meal
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons soup stock or water*
*My squeeze uses club soda instead. He says it makes them lighter.
Mix fat and eggs together. Mix and add Manischewitz® Matzo Meal and salt. When well blended, add soup stock or water. Cover mixing bowl and place in refrigerator for at least twenty minutes. Using a two or three quart size pot, bring salted water to a brisk boil. Reduce flame and into the slightly bubbling water drop balls formed from above mixture. Cover pot and let cook 30-40 minutes. Have soup at room temperature, or warmer, and remove matzo balls from water to soup pot. When ready to serve, allow soup to simmer for about 5 minutes. Recipe makes eight balls.
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Hunh! Club soda. I always got the matzo balls in the jar, or (even easier) ate them out. You have made them seem not very hard to make, and I do hanker after them, thanks!
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You’re welcome. They really are easy and the club soda does seem to do something. (He’s a floater fan) If this gentile can make them, anyone can!
while manishewitz is tasty i was hoping to find a recipe truly from scratch. i dont think the club soda has much to do with floating or sinking, i believe it is in how dense you pack the ballls. cheers.
I don’t know how much more from scratch a matzoh ball recipe can be, unless you grind the matzohs yourself. Even the one I linked to at epicurious begins with matzoh meal. Sorry.
Can your recipe for matzoh balls be frozen?
Thank you.
Hi, Arlene. That’s an excellent question and the answer is yes. Here’s what Joan Nathan says in her Jewish Holiday Cookbook: “..make the matzoh balls, squeeze them out, freeze them on a cookie tray and then throw them into a plastic freezer bag for your next occasion.”
I’ve frozen them in the soup and that works well but never the balls alone, but Joan Nathan’s word is golden as far as I’m concerned.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again!