Perfect for any cold day or a Passover gathering when you want something warm and filling, matzo ball soup is comfort food at its finest. Gentle matzo balls suspended in a savory broth speaks both to memory and satisfaction. This is the way to make a traditional version of this crowd-pleasing soup.
Matzo Ball Soup’s ingredients:
For the balls made with matzo:
- One cup of matzo meal
- Four large eggs, beaten
- One-fourth cup vegetable oil or schmaltz, or rendered chicken fat.
- One fourth cup chicken broth or cold water.
- 1 tsp of salt
- Optional for fluffier matzo balls, 1/2 tsp baking powder
- One fourth tsp of ground pepper
For the Soup:
- 8 cups of chicken broth.
- Two peeled and sliced carrots.
- Two celery stalks; one medium onion; quartered one bay leaf
- For garnish fresh parsley or dill.
- Taste salt and pepper accordingly.
Instructions:
1. Prepare the matzo ball mixture.
Mix matzo meal, beaten eggs, schmaltz-or vegetable oil-water or chicken broth, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Add one half teaspoon of baking powder if you like airy and fluffy matzo balls. When you’ve mixed all the ingredients, cover the bowl and allow it to chill for at least half an hour. This is very important, because correct texturing relies on this resting time.
2. Shape the Matzo Balls.
Once the mixture has cooled, you wet your hands and take little pieces of the dough to form small balls measuring about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. Do not overwork the dough, or your matzo balls will turn out dense, so place them on a platter as you make the soup.
3. prepare chicken soup.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the sliced onion, celery, carrot, and bay leaf. Reduce heat and simmer the soup for 15 to 20 minutes; this way, the vegetables will be soft and the broth will have more depth of taste. Taste to salt and pepper should guide you.
4. Now make the matzo balls.
Gently drop the matzo balls into the boiling soup. Cook the matzo balls for 30 to forty minutes while covered over the pot. Cover the saucepan while they cook since failure to do so they lose the fluffy quality. While cooking, the matzo balls ought to become light and soft and expand.
5. Serving the Soup
Discard bay leaf. Remove matzo balls from the pot when they are done. Ladle soup into bowls with a few matzo balls in each serving, along with sufficient amount of liquid and vegetables to fill the bowl. For some color and extra flavor, top with fresh parsley or dill.
Tips to Dense or Fluffy Just Perfect Matzo Balls Add a small amount of baking powder to your mixture if you like matzo balls light and fluffy. Omit the baking powder to have it a bit dense.
Chilling the mixture: The texture will only be right if the mixture for matzo is allowed to rest in the refrigerator, so do not omit that step.
Schmaltz against oil: Schmaltz, which provides this preparation its rich and savory flavor, is used in the recipe for the traditional dishes. Should you run out of schmaltz, vegetable oil is a good substitute.
Conclusion
All things considered, this classic matzo ball soup is a delicious conscience meal, which warms the table. Whether made for a holiday or just to fill up, rich broth and soft matzo balls guarantee to impress. Serve it with fresh herbs to taste history!