Heart-Shaped Matzah Ball Soup

Eeeeeeep! Welcome to MARCH 2021 on the blog! Aka Passover 2021. (These things are synonymous in my head, cause, ya know…the whole Jewish blog thing.)

Anyway, WELCOME. I’m so glad you’re here. I figured there was really no better way to kick off a new batch of projects and posts than with a bowl of fluffy, flowery, heart-shaped matzah ball soup. So…let’s dive into it! (The post, not the soup.)

The technique here really is very simple, and you’ll note that you don’t need to use a specific recipe, either—it works with almost any matzah ball recipe. It does, however, tend to yield far less matzah balls than the actual “ball” method, so I suggest doubling your recipe of choice if you have a lot of guests to feed. (See my extra note at the end of the recipe about other ideas for feeding a crowd.)

While this entire situation is remarkably simple—really, anyone can do it!—I do recommend reading through the entire set of instructions before beginning, just so you’re aware of exactly what to do, and when.

Have fun with it, and as always, let me know on Instagram if you end up making these!

Heart-Shaped Matzah Ball Soup

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• Author: Rebekah Lowin

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Description

This technique makes 10-20 matzah balls, depending on the size of your cookie cutter and the typical yield of your recipe. It does tend to yield far less matzah balls than the actual “ball” variety, so I suggest doubling your recipe of choice if you have a lot of guests to feed. See note at end of recipe about ideas for feeding a crowd.

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Ingredients

• One batch of your favorite matzah ball recipe, right up to the point where you’d normally chill the “batter.” Joan Nathan’s beloved recipe works beautifully here, as does any store-bought box mix.
• A large baking sheet
• Parchment paper (optional but useful)
• Disposable gloves (optional but useful)
• Small heart-shaped cookie cutters (or any suuuper *basic* shape cutters of your choosing, but nothing intricate! Lots of sharp corners/curves and other little details tend not to work well. Also, note that the matzah balls puff up and become substantially larger once they’re cooked.)
• A large soup pot
• Ladle (optional but useful)
• A small offset spatula or dinner knife (optional but useful)
• One batch of matzah ball soup (in which to serve these matzah balls!)

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Instructions

1. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. Prepare your matzah ball recipe of choice. Once the ingredients are incorporated and just before you’re asked to let it stand or sit in the fridge for any period of time, slip on a pair of disposable gloves!
3. Use your hands to coax the matzah “batter” onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Gently press the mixture into a fat, flat pancake, about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up, or overnight.
4. Remove the now-chilled matzah batter from the fridge. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Use cookie cutters to create heart shapes in the matzah batter, carefully lifting each one up with an offset spatula or dinner knife if they prove difficult to move. Place each “finished” heart onto the new, clean, parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving at least a centimeter between each one (no more space is needed). You can “re-roll” the batter scraps, just like cookie dough, to squeeze a few extra shapes out of the mixture.
5. Once you’ve filled the baking sheet with hearts, pop it back in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
6. When time’s up and you’re ready to shape and cook the matzah balls, prep your original baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels and place within a few feet of your stove. Fill a large soup pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Remove the matzah balls from the fridge, then use your offset spatula or a slotted, flat spatula to gently lower each one into the boiling water—just like frying. Repeat until all of the hearts have been placed within the water. Depending on the size of your pot and the matzah balls, you should be able to cook about 10-15 at a time without worrying about them colliding with each other and falling apart. If you’ve got a little extra time, opt to boil a few less at a time; this way, you can ensure that none will fall apart in the water.
7. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Remove one of the “hearts” and carefully slice it in half to make sure it’s cooked all the way through (you don’t want to see any darker colors in the middle or less cooked, batter-y areas).

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Notes

• To serve immediately: Carefully remove all of the matzah balls from the water, drain the pot, then ladle one at a time into prepared bowls of matzah ball soup, garnish as desired, and enjoy!
• To freeze and serve: Remove all of the matzah balls from the water, one by one, and place on your paper towel-lined baking sheet with a few centimeters of distance between each one. Once they’ve cooled a bit and the majority of the water is absorbed by the paper towels, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover them carefully with plastic wrap (tuck it around each heart shape to make sure they’re protected from the harsh freezer environment and won’t stick to their neighboring heart). Place the sheet into the freezer until the hearts are frozen and hard, at least a few hours. At this point, if you want to save space in your freezer, you can remove them from the baking sheet, carefully package each heart separately in a layer of plastic wrap, and arrange in a plastic bag, then re-store. The matzah balls can remain in the freezer for up to three months.
• How to reheat and serve after freezing: Remove the matzah balls from the freezer and place into a pot of simmering soup base for about 20 minutes until they’re soft in the center. Ladle the matzah balls into a bowl, pour soup on top, and garnish as desired.
• Idea for feeding a crowd: One idea for maximum efficiency would be to make your favorite matzah ball soup recipe as you normally would, and simply use these “hearts” as a small added garnish in each bowl. That way, you’ll only need to make as many hearts as you have guests (no need to worry that you won’t have enough to serve everyone), you can make them much smaller, and you don’t have to worry about offending any matzah ball purists out there. These matzah hearts are, admittedly, a bit more work than the usual matzah balls, so the idea of using them in addition to your regular matzah balls will allow you to quickly and far more efficiently whip up bowls of soup on your seder night.