I have so many dreams of fusion matzo ball soup (see last year’s Mexican-ish Matzo Ball soup) but when I started to chop up my CSA rutabaga and discovered it was a radish, classic-ish it was. I made this soup for Carla and was also continually advocating for classic. She was a real asset today and helped pick all the meat off the chicken carcass in addition to providing “moral support; I stopped you from some of your wilder impulses.” What else is a friend for?
I know some people think of Matzo Ball soup as a very clear chicken broth with carrots and matzo balls only, but I prefer mine with more of chicken noodle soup except matzo ball vibe, and like celery and alliums and shredded chicken, along with copious amounts of dill. I didn’t have time today to chill the broth overnight; if I had, I would have scraped off the solid fat and used it in the matzo balls. I also have never bothered to cook the matzo balls separately, I just do it right in the broth. I’ve never noticed a difference. Other notes: this makes a LOT of broth, plan to freeze half or use for something else .
Broth
1 whole chicken
1 chicken carcass (ask your butcher)
1 bulb garlic
2 onions, quartered
1/2 heart celery, roughly chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped
knob ginger
3 bay leaves
peppercorns
1.5 tablespoons salt
Put everything in a stockpot and cover generously with water — maybe 12 cups? maybe more? — and bring to a boil. Simmer with cover askew for 1 hour. Remove whole chicken to a plate to cool, and keep simmering the rest of broth for another 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, and strain the soup (probably into something big like a dutch oven, and then maybe even another big bowl). Taste for salt. Chill overnight, if possible. Pick the chicken meat off the bones and set aside.
Matzo Balls + Soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or chicken fat
2 eggs
1/2 cup matzo meal
2 tablespoons plain seltzer
glug olive oil / schmaltz
1/2 heart celery, finely chopped
3 carrots, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely sliced
dill
lemon
Mix oil and eggs in a large bowl. Add matzo meal and stir til combined. Gently fold in the seltzer til mixed. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, saute the veg in the glue of oil til they just start to soften. Then add broth—probably 6 to 8 cups?—and bring to a simmer.
Fetch the matzo ball mix and gently form into walnut sized balls and drop into the simmering soup. It’s a pretty wet mix so it should come right together, but try not to squish it too much. Cover and let simmer on low for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, sacrifice one ball. Cut it in half to assess doneness. It should look … done? Idk I have never really seen the middle of an underdone matzo ball to compare. Taste for salt.
Make a bowl of soup: put some of the shredded chicken in a bowl, ladle broth and matzo balls over, then top with dill, a squeeze of lemon, flakey salt, and fresh ground pepper. Enjoy!