Chicken Matzo Ball Soup

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Did you know it was Passover? I bet you did. It is actually the 4th night of Passover, 4 more to go! My husband is Jewish so we celebrate the holidays and make all the Jewish faves. I actually get super excited for Passover, this may not be the case for everyone else. I have such great memories of Passover; when I was in middle school I would go to my best friend’s house to take part in their Passover Seder. I thought the food was so different and delicious! I had never heard of Gefilte fish or Charoset and to me they were just the beginning of my Jewish education.

As with every other holiday there are going to be your staple dishes. These are the ones that must be on the table or there will be hell to pay. My mom knows that she cannot get away with having a Thanksgiving meal without her amazing dressing. The hubby will not let me get away with making any changes to Grandma Toby’s Noodle Kugel for Rosh Hashasanah, like seriously he will refuse to eat it.

With Passover the must have is Matzo Ball Soup.

Matzo by itself might be strange to some. Personally I think it is delicious with all sorts of toppings (more specifically toppings that typically go on bagels). No matter what your thoughts are on Matzo you cannot deny the deliciousness that is a matzo ball. Um… mouth is watering thinking about matzo balls. Is that weird? OK don’t judge me!

I am pretty close to just saying we should have matzo ball soup once a month. In fact, I am not sure what is stopping us. New resolution! Matzo Ball soup will be on the menu more often in this household. The hubby seems excited.

Chicken Matzo Ball Soup
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Soup:
4 Carrots Roughly Chopped
3 Celery Stalks Roughly Chopped
2 Medium Onions Quartered
An Herb Bundle (Tarragon, Parsley, Thyme and 2 Bay Leaves)
2 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Tsp. Pepper
1 Whole Chicken or Cut Up Chicken
3-4 Cups Chicken Stock
Enough Water to Cover Chicken
2 Carrots Diced
2 Celery Stalks Diced

Matzo Balls
1 Cup Matzo Meal
4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Oil
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/4 Tsp. Pepper

Instructions:

Put all ingredients for your soup base in a large stock pot (do not include the additional carrots and celery these will go into the soup after). Cover everything with water, enough to cover chicken. Allow your soup to cook for several hours (about 2 hours) over medium heat. Remove your chicken from the stock and allow to cool before handling.

Once your chicken has cooled to the point where you can handle safely remove the skin and pull the meat from the bone. Set aside the chicken meat and strain the broth into a bowl. Continue to let the broth cool, you can refrigerate the broth overnight if you wish. Once the broth has cooled you will notice that there is a thin layer of fat that has formed. Skim the fat off the broth before reheating. Combine your broth and extra carrots and celery to a large stock pot. Add your pulled chicken pieces and bring up to a boil. Once it comes to a boil you can reduce the heat and allow the soup to simmer while you prepare your matzo balls.

Make your matzo balls about 30 minutes before you finish off your soup. Mix all ingredients for matzo balls in a small bowl. Place the mix in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before forming into balls. Once chilled, wet hands and form the mixture into balls the size of walnuts or larger if you prefer. It is important not to overwork the matzo balls, when they cook in the broth they will expand and the more you handle it is likely they will be denser. I prefer to make my matzo balls in boiling water before adding to the soup, this will make it so they don’t get too soft in the soup the longer they sit in the broth. Add your balls to a pot of boiling water and cook until they are all floating, about 10 minutes. They should have increased in size.

Transfer your balls to the stock pot with the rest of your soup. The balls may get a little bigger once they are transferred to the soup. Allow everything to simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!