Monday, April 7, 2014

The Best Passover Matzo Balls - My Recipe for Homemade Matzo Balls

Making homemade matzo balls is really easy. Here's how:

Yield: 8 regular size or 6 big matzo balls

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup Manischewitz® Matzo Meal
2 tablespoons seltzer water
Itty-bitty pinch of salt

1. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.

2. Add the vegetable oil, matzo meal and seltzer water and then mix all of the ingredients together at once - not one at a time.

3. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. A real 30 minutes.

4. While your matzo ball mix is chillin' in the fridge, boil about 8 to 10 cups of water (approx. 2 quarts), or of chicken stock/soup/broth if that's how you'll be serving the matzo balls.

5. When the water (or chicken stock/soup/broth) is at a full rolling boil - a real rolling boil - it's ready for your matzo balls. Wet your hands with a little water and form your chilled matzo batter into balls, about the size of a walnut or a little larger.

6. Reduce the heat on the stove and gently plop the matzo balls into the pot. If you did not let the water truly boil first, your matzo balls will not poof correctly, so much sure you are patient and don't add them to the pot too soon.

7. Cover the pot tightly and let the matzo balls lull around in the water for at least 40 minutes - a real 40 minutes. You can't really over-cook matzo balls, but I've learned the hard way you can under-cook them. So be patient!

8. That's it! If you're serving the matzo balls in soup, which I think is pretty much the only way to eat matzo balls, either heat them in chicken soup/stock/broth instead of water in the initial preparation in Steps 4 and 5 above, or reheat them by simmering in soup before serving.

A few hints:
1. Do not double the recipe. I'm not sure why you can't but it doesn't work. If you need to make lotsa matzo balls, just make it twice using two separate bowls, than boil in two separate pots.

2. While you can make matzo balls ahead of time and freeze, I don't. Too many issues, and too complicated to do it right. Instead, I make the matzo balls up to two days before I want to eat them, and just store them in liquid (chicken stock or broth works best) in the refrigerator.

3. Make sure you use plain seltzer, flavored seltzer doesn't work. Also, plain seltzer sells-out all the time before Passover - so buy it early!

4. I make my matzo balls with just a tiny pinch of salt because that's how I roll. You may want to add more than that when you're making them if you are a more salty kinda person.

5. This recipe is for fluffy matzo balls, not the dense "golf ball" ones.

Note: This version is adapted from the recipe on the side of the Manischewitz® Matzo Meal canister.

I was not compensated for this post, just sharing my love of a good matzo ball.

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