Israeli Matza Balls and Vegetable Soup

by David Guedj

Recipe for Kneidelach with an eastern touch. 

For the Kneidelach mix: 

A cup and a quarter of matza meal - 130gm

A teaspoon of salt. 

A spoonful of oil 

A spoonful of baking powder 

A glass and a half of boiling water (360 mm) 

2 eggs 

For the soup: 

2 potatoes, cubed

2 carrots, sliced

2 zucchini, thickly sliced

One peeled sweet potato cubed

Two stalks of celery thickly sliced

Pumpkin cubes 

1 sliced leek

1 onion in large cubes

5 whole dill stalks

7 whole parsley stalks

Half a teaspoon of black pepper. 

Two tablespoons of salt. 

Half a teaspoon of turmeric. 

Boiling water 

The preparation method: 

1. We will prepare the mixture of Kneidlach: Put in a bowl the matza meal salt, oil, baking powder and the boiling water - mix and put in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. 

During this time we will whisk two eggs for an  airy texture. About 10 minutes after the mixture has cooled down a little we will take it out of the refrigerator and combine between the eggs to the folded mixture until we get a uniform mixture.

Put back into the fridge for an hour to stabilize. 

2. We'll prepare the soup: In a large pot we will put all the soup ingredients listed above, including the spices. We will add water to the end of the pot, cover with the lid half open half closed and cook on a high flame for about 45 minutes. 

3. After 45 minutes, we will boil a pot of water next to the soup pot, and when the water has boiled, we will remove the kneidelach mixture from the refrigerator, and with wet hands we will make meatballs the size of a ping-pong ball and put them one by one in the pot. We will cook until the meatballs are floating and with a net spoon we will transfer them to the soup pot. 

4. We'll cook the soup with the kneidlach together for 15 minutes.