Matzo Ball Soup
All dumplings are delicous!
Equipment
- 2 sauce pots 3-quart pots
- 1 electric mixer Hand-held
- 1 whisk
- 1 mixing bowl Large
- 2 mixing bowls Small
- 1 rimmed baking sheet pan
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 cookie scoop #24 (see notes #7)
- 1 cook's spoon Slotted
Ingredients
Ingredients For The Soup:
- 2 quarts good chicken broth Unsalted
- 3 cups shredded chicken Poached
- 2 cups baby carrots 1/4-inch dice
- 2 cups celery 1/4-inch dice
- 1/2 cup onion 1/4-inch dice, optional
- 3 tbps fresh dill Minced, reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish
- 1/4 cup Itaian flat-leaf parsley Minced
- 1 1/2 tbsps Kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper Freshly ground
Matzo Ball Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs Separated
- 1/2 cup chicken broth Unsalted
- 1/4 cup Schmaltz Chicken fat, melted
- 1/4 cup fresh dill Minced
- 1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley Minced
- 2 tbsps Kosher salt Plus more for egg whites
- 1/2 tsp black pepper Freshly ground
- 1 cup Matzo meal
Instructions
- Instructions For Matzo Balls: Whisk together the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, kosher salt, melted chicken fat, dill, and parsley. Whisk together the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, kosher salt, melted chicken fat, dill, and parsley. Start by whisking in the matzo meal slowly, a little at a time, until it is well combined. Whip the egg whites and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl until stiff. Whisk them into the matzo mixture until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened.Form the matzo balls using a cookie scoop to ensure they are all the same size. Roll the mixture into balls the size of golf balls with your hands. In the meantime, I place the prepared matzo balls onto a parchment paper-lined sheet pan and transfer them to the refrigerator until I'm ready to cook them. I move on to making the soup next. Once the soup is ready, drop them into a pot of simmering water and cook for 30 minutes, or until they are fully cooked and puffed, turning them once during the cooking process. Remove using a slotted spoon and serve them in the hot chicken soup.Instructions For The Soup: Add the chicken broth, diced carrots, celery, onions, 1/4 cup of dill, parsley, and shredded, poached (link for poaching chicken, https://lindalouhamel.com/2020/07/28/chicken-fajita-quesadillas/) chicken to a 3-quart sauce pot over medium-low heat. Season with Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes to cook the vegetables and reheat the chicken. Ladle the hot soup over each serving of 2 warm matzo balls.There you have it, my Matzo Ball Soup.
Notes
1) If you're going to add chicken to the Matzo Ball Soup, poach the chicken in advance. Shred the poached chicken and set aside until ready to use.
2) I prefer to cook my matzo balls in a separate pot with water. After they're cooked, I place them in the bottom of a serving bowl and ladle the hot soup over them
3) Yes, you can freeze cooked matzo balls. After cooking, let them cool and drain off any excess liquid. Freeze them on a baking sheet before transferring them to a freezer bag. When ready to use, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator and add them to the simmering soup.
4) This dish will yield 6 bowls of chicken soup. You'll have extra matzo balls that you can freeze for another day.
5) If you double the matzo ball recipe, you can freeze them for another day in an air-tight sealed baggie.
6) Whenever I buy chicken with the skin on and I don't need it for the recipe I'm making, I render the chicken skin down in a sautè pan. I run it through a fine mesh sieve and store it in a tight-sealing jar in the refrigerator
7) The number on a cookie scoop refers to the number of scoops you would get out of a quart of dough.
8) Linda Lou Hamel is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through the online nutritional calculator of your choice. Calories and values can vary depending on the brands you choose.