Credit: Samantha F.
Cheesy ricotta matzo balls in a savory roasted tomato soup and garnished with crispy Parmesan chips. This is next level matzo ball soup! Matzo is an unleavened cracker-like bread that is traditionally eaten at Passover. It is made with flour and water, and it is the flour-containing product that is deemed to be Kosher for passover. Matzo meal is made by finely grinding matzo crackers into a breadcrumb-like consistency.
Roasted Tomato Soup with Ricotta Matzo BallsYields 2-4 servings
Tomato Soup Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. vine or roma tomatoes cut in half
- 2 red bell peppers (you can also use roasted jarred peppers)
- 2 large carrots, peeled and stems cut
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- ½ tsp. salt
- Olive oil
- 2-4 cups vegetable stock
Ricotta Matzo Ball Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup matzo meal
- ¼ cup ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil leaves, chopped
- Fresh parsley leaves, chopped
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- Ground pepper
Garnish:
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, for Parmesan chips
- Fresh basil
- Olive oil
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with foil. Add tomatoes, peppers, carrots and garlic and toss with salt and olive oil. Roast vegetables until soft and tender, for about 30 minutes. Once done, remove from oven and allow cooling enough to handle. Then remove seeds from pepper and any charred thick skin and discard.
2. Once vegetables are cool enough, add everything to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You may want to add a bit of the stock to help thin it out, then transfer to a small pot with the rest of the stock and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
3. For the matzo balls, whisk all the ingredients together until well combined and form into medium sized balls. Add to boiling water and cook until matzo balls float to the top, about 30 minutes.
4. To make the parmesan chip, leave oven at 400° Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat. Place a heaping tablespoon or two of grated Parmesan cheese and lightly press down so it’s in a circle and replicate with remaining cheese. Bake for about five minutes until the cheese melts and edges are slightly crispy. Once done, remove from oven and allow to cool before removing.
5. Assemble soup by adding matzo balls to roasted tomato soup and garnish each bowl with a Parmesan chip, fresh basil and a good drizzle of olive oil. Buon appetite!
About Samantha Ferraro
Samantha Ferraro is the food blogger and photographer for The Little Ferraro Kitchen. Samantha comes from a diverse Jewish and multi cultural background with both Sephardic and Ashkenazi roots and has lived all over, including Brooklyn, Hawaii, Southern California and now in the Pacific Northwest. Samantha blogs about world cuisine recipes and lives in beautiful Washington with her Italian husband and adorable fluffy dog Hula and is writing her first cooking, coming out in Spring 2018. You can visit her blog over at www.LittleFerraroKitchen.com
