New Year's Leftover Matzah Ball Soup

January 1st this year, in Tel Aviv at least, was a cold and rainy day. The perfect day to make a soup out of leftovers around the house. As it was too rainy and cold for even the five minute walk to the store I started rummaging through the fridge and pantry to see what I had lying around. In the fridge I found a veal shank bone from some osso bucco I had made the other day. I had saved the bone to make some stock. I had a few veggies in the fridge too. However, it was only after looking in the pantry that the meal came together. From last Pesach I had a package of matzah ball meal.

Preparing the stock with onions, celery, carrot and veal shank bone.

I immediately started working on the stock. I diced the carrots, onions and celery and started sweating them in a big pot on the stove. I generously seasoned with salt and pepper. After about seven minutes I added the veal bone and thyme sprigs to the pot and sauteed for another minute. At this point I added a few cups of water and let the stock simmer for an hour and a half.

In the meantime I made the matzah balls by beating two eggs and adding the packet of matzah ball meal and a generous amount of spicy paprika. I mixed it together well and let it cool in the fridge while the stock simmered and developed. After the stock had been going for the hour and a half I strained the stock and eliminated the veggies and veal bone. I returned the broth back to the pot and brought it to a strong boil.

The matzah balls cooking away

I gently rolled out matzah balls and put them in the boiling stock. I like my matzah balls large and fluffy, so rolling them ever so lightly and as little as possible is critical. If you roll your matzah balls until they're compact you will have heavy and less tasty matzah balls. I let the matzah balls cook for about seven to eight minutes and the soup was ready.

The soup was really tasty, perfect for a cold, rainy day and a great start to 2011.

Yummm!

Recipe: Leftover Matzah Ball Soup

Ingredients:
1 Veal Shank Bone
2 carrots
2 onions
3 sticks celery
2 eggs
1 package matzah ball meal
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Thyme

Instructions: See description above

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New Year's Leftover Matzah Ball Soup