Vegetarian Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

The first (only) time I made matzo balls for my Jewish in-laws, Shiksa Dough Bombs of Doom dropped out of the pot. They were tough with gritty, uncooked centers that resembled the desert their people wandered for 40 years. Only drier.

Those concrete-filled matzo balls haunted me. But it’s a classic, nourishing dish that should be in everyone’s cooking repertoire, especially with matzo’s big week coming up (All hail Passover!), so I decided to try again. And this time, I’d make a healthier version without chicken broth and schmaltz (chicken fat).

My mother-in-law’s chicken broth is the pretty, translucent color of warm sunshine. My homemade vegetarian stock has a russet tone better suited to heavy stews. The color comes from slowly simmered vegetables, which also give it a hearty taste. Could I make a lighter-looking broth that wasn’t light on flavor?

First, I diced all of my vegetables into ¼-inch bits. The smaller the piece, the more flavor extracted. Then I sauteed the vegetables until they were soft, but not brown. I added some cold water and brought it to a boil.

Here’s what they don’t tell you on cooking shows: If you have a boiling pot of broth, and you add pepper to it, and you lean into the aromatic steam and inhale gloriously, you will get a snoot full of pepper. And if you have just used pungent white pepper instead of black because hey, that might taste good, you will cough so much that your abs hurt and it counts as your workout for the week. To add insult to eye-watering injury, a brief simmer yielded a light-colored, but weak-tasting broth. For flavor’s sake, browner was better.

Perhaps I’d have better luck duplicating my mother-in-law’s fluffy matzo balls. A little research suggested two tricks. One is to whip the egg whites before folding in the dry ingredients. The second is to use carbonated water instead of tap. Whipping the egg whites was easy, but my seltzer was flat (another thing that never happens on TV). Improvising, I used lime-flavored sparkling water – and it worked. The matzo balls were fluffy! Slightly tropical tasting, but fluffy!

I don’t really recommend lime-flavored matzo balls. But I do recommend facing your cooking disasters. It’s a marvelously heady feeling to overcome whatever obstacles a dish throws at your feet. Or up your nose.

Vegetarian Matzo Ball Soup
4 to 5 servings

3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and chopped into ¼- to ½-inch pieces
4 celery stalks with leaves, chopped into ¼- to ½-inch pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into ¼- to ½-inch pieces
2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped into ¼- to ½-inch pieces
2 green onions, chopped into ¼- to ½-inch pieces
2 tsp. freshly minced garlic
6 sprigs fresh thyme
6 sprigs fresh parsley
2 fresh bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
8 cups cold water
Fluffy Matzo Balls (recipe follows)
Freshly chopped dill or parsley for garnish

• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Add the chopped vegetables and saute, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes.

• Add the garlic, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

• Stir in the thyme, parsley, bay leaves, salt, pepper and cold water, scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil.

• Reduce the heat to a simmer and let simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour.

• Strain, reserving the broth and discarding the herbs and vegetables.

• Divide the broth evenly between 4 to 5 soup bowls. Add 2 Fluffy Matzo Balls (recipe follows) to each bowl. Garnish with fresh dill or parsley.

Note: The soup will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Fluffy Matzo Balls
8 to 10 servings

4 large eggs, separated
¼ cup carbonated water
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. salt, divided
1 cup matzo meal
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. baking powder* (optional)
8 cups cold water

• Whip the egg whites in a bowl until white and frothy, but not stiff. Set aside.

• In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the carbonated water and oil. Set aside.

• In a third bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of salt with the matzo meal and black pepper. (*If you’re not keeping kosher for Passover, also add the baking powder.)

• Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites. Then add in the dry mixture. Stir gently and thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour and up to overnight.

• Add the water and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt to a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil.

• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and pat – don’t pack – the cold dough into balls slightly smaller than the inside of your palm.

• Drop the balls into the boiling water. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook without removing the lid for 30 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the balls from the water and keep warm in a bowl.

• Serve immediately, or store in a covered container in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. To reheat the matzo balls, place them in a pot with 2 inches of vegetable broth or salted water set over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until heated through.

Kellie Hynes is a longtime contributor to Sauce Magazine.