Matzah Ball Soup

WHY I LOVE THIS RECIPE: The reason that I chose Matzah Ball Soup as my recipe is because it is a very meaningful food in my family for many reasons. First of all, it is a comfort food, meaning that whenever anyone is sick or not feeling one hundred percent my mom will whip out the Matzah Ball Soup to make us feel better. Whenever it’s cold or rainy outside you’ll hear my mom say “I guess it’s time for Matzah Ball Soup!” The recipe belongs to my dad’s childhood nanny who got the recipe from my grandmother, then passed the recipe down to my mom.

The first person to introduce me to this food was my mom; however, I don’t remember when exactly because Matzah Ball soup has been an important food in my family for as long as I can remember. Whenever I think of Matzah Ball Boup, I think of comfort from my mom and family and only good things. Matzah Ball Soup has a way of making everybody happy and feeling better in my family. Matzah Ball Soup also reminds me of my religion because I always have it at Jewish gatherings, on Shabbat, at my synagogue, etc. I have memories of eating it with my cousins on Shabbat and on high holidays for dinner. A special memory I have involving Matzah Ball Soup is from only about a month ago. I was very sick and not feeling well, but had to go to school because it was more important. However, when I got home I could barely stay awake because of how bad I felt. On top of that I had homework for every class and multiple tests that week, causing me to be very stressed out and bitter. I remember what made me happy was when I found out we were having Matzah Ball Soup for dinner that night. I could smell the matzah balls from the second I got home and could taste the soup from my bedroom.

Matzah Ball Soup - Southwest Version

Jewish Holidays, Soups

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Emily Bregman

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Chicken Broth

• 2 whole chickens plus the carcass of chicken (I freeze the carcass from rotisserie chickens until I need to use them for the soup)
• 10 lg carrots
• 2 whole onions (only peel the very outer layer of onions)
• 8 stalks celery
• 1 bundle fresh poultry herbs
• 1 tsp whole peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt or salt to taste
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• enough water to cover all ingredients

Matzah Ball Soup

• 10 cups of the chicken broth
• salt if needed or desired
• 6 whole carrots cut in 1 inch pieces
• 4 stalks celery cut in 1 inch pieces
• 1 box Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix.
• reserved chicken cut in bite-sized pieces
• egg noodles if desired

Instructions

Chicken Broth

• Put all ingredients in large heavy Dutch oven and bring water to a boil.
• Simmer for 1 hour.
• Remove whole chickens.
• Slice breast of chickens and reserve for soup.
• Put back remaining chicken and bone in broth mixture and check water level continuously to be sure all ingredients stay covered.
• Cook for 6 hours.
• Allow broth to cool and strain broth. All the flavor from remaining chicken and vegetables will be in the broth so toss all ingredients.
• Cover broth and refrigerate overnight.

Matzah Ball Soup

• Remove fat from top of broth.
• Bring 10 cups of the broth to a boil, reserving remaining broth for other uses.
• Add salt (if desired), carrots and celery to broth and allow to cook while you prepare the matzo balls per the directions on the box. Be sure your hands are moist when making the matzo balls and do not over work them or they will be hard.
• Add matzo balls to the soup and when there are 10 minutes left of cooking time, add reserved chicken pieces and egg noodles if using).
• Serve hot.

Notes

Photo Attribution:  Chicken and matzo ball soup by WordRidden is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

 

 

The Tracing Roots & Building Trees project paired teens from Tucson Hebrew High with residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging to remember stories and favorite foods together. From this experience a cookbook, “L’dor v’dor: From Generation to Generation: Stories and Memories around Family and Food, was published.