This delicious recipe comes to us courtesy of veteran Delicious Israel guide Ilana Butrimovitz, who recently traded in the hustle and bustle of Tel Aviv (along with some good waves) for a serene quarantine life in Kibbutz Mevo Hama in the Golan Heights.
Matzo Brei might just be the Jewish version of the customary day-after-Thanksgiving leftover turkey sandwich. Matzo brei (meaning “fried matzah" in Yiddish, not Hebrew) is a classic Passover dish made from matzo and eggs, most commonly eaten for breakfast. It is immensely popular both in my homeland of America and in my not-so-new second home of Israel - if you’ve never had the pleasure of eating it before, soon you’ll understand why it is so legendary.
How can humble matzo (not typically known as a culinary delight) and simple eggs taste so good together? After slaving away in the kitchen preparing for your 20-person seder meal (well, maybe not this year, but some of us still had to Zoom to impress) you wake up the next morning, fry some matzo and eggs together and call it a day.
You know the traditional four questions from the Passover seder. However, a fifth, less official but equally important (in my mind) question remains from the night before: Team Savory or Team Sweet?* You see, matzo brei can be made in salty, savory versions (think eggs, onions and lox) or sweet versions with jam, fruit, chocolate, and more. This debate has been known to break up peaceful morning-after breakfasts in households generation after generation..
*Recommended to ask on first date before moving forward with any relationship
With my sweet tooth, I prefer to go the sweet route. Every year I like to experiment with different matzo brei recipes according to what I have in my fridge. Last year a friend had just brought me back butter from France (drool), so I included it as the star of the show, because let’s be honest- what more do you need more in life than butter and sugar?
This year, I decided to take a fresher, healthier Mediterranean spin on my matzo brei. With international travel shut down and Israelis like me stuck in their homes, I had no choice but to use the local ingredients I had in the fridge. Lucky for me, living in Israel means those staples are nothing short of delightful!
Strawberries are just coming to the end of their season here, so I added some - the freshness of the strawberries add a nice balance to the fried nature of the dish. Before Passover, my aunt was describing to me how my Syrian Jewish great-grandmother used to caramelize the dates used to make maamoul, a traditional date-filled cookie. This inspired me to add caramelized dates to this recipe. Lastly, in Israel we put tahini (techina as it is known here) on everything - and I mean EVERYTHING! Eggs, burgers, pizza - you name it, we can put tahini on it, sort of like the way ketchup is used in the United States. More recently, tahini has been trending as a dessert addition, and it is simply divine.
Without further ado, here is my recipe for flavor-packed Strawberry Matzo Brei with Walnuts, Dates and Tahini.
Ingredients
4 sheets of matzo*
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp. milk (can use soy, almond or any other milk of your choosing)
1 tbsp. sugar (or to taste)
4 Medjoul dates, pitted and chopped into quarters
4 sliced strawberries (or any berry that is in season)
1/4 cup crushed walnuts
Pomegranate molasses*** for drizzling
Silan (date honey) for drizzling
Tahini for drizzling
Splash of orange juice
Salt, to taste
*Recommended substitutions if not all ingredients are available:
Pomegranate syrup: add a bit more orange juice and a squeeze of lemon at the end to add some tang. If you only have pomegranate juice, you can reduce it by simmering on low heat, until it coats the back of a spoon.
Silan (date honey): Use honey, agave or maple syrup.
Tahini: Use peanut butter, almond butter or another nut butter of your choice.
**Some people use a matzo-to-egg ratio of 2:2. I prefer 2:1, meaning 2 matzo sheets for every 1 egg, as it tastes less like your average omelet and you really get the feeling of the matzo.
***I use a handmade pomegranate molasses from a vendor in the legendary Hatikva Market that has been making it for generations. Write to us and we’ll share their information with you, or better yet, book a Hatikva Market tour when life gets back to normal!
Instructions
Heat 1 tbsp. of butter in a large pan on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and add the chopped dates. Let simmer, mixing occasionally, about 5-10 minutes.
While the dates are cooking, prepare your matzo. In a large bowl, beat the eggs along with the milk, splash of orange juice, salt and sugar. You can always add more salt or sugar later on.
In a separate bowl, crush the matzo into pieces ½-inch to 1-inch in size. Add the cup of milk and mix well. Let this matzo-milk mixture stand for at least 30 seconds — the longer the matzo sits in the milk, the softer it will become (if using egg matzo, due to the softness of it already, do not soak for more then 30 seconds) I like to let it stand for just a minute to maintain some of the crunchiness of the matzo.
Combine the matzo and the egg mixtures, coating well.
Check on the dates - once they are nice and gooey, add the crushed walnuts. Stir until toasted, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.
Heat the remaining 1 tbsp. of butter in the pan over medium-high heat. Let it heat up for a minute or two before adding the matzo-egg mixture. Cook, stirring constantly (think scrambled eggs vs omelette), until the eggs are cooked through. Add the walnuts and dates into the mixture and remove from pan.
Top with strawberry slices, and drizzle with pomegranate molasses, silan and tahini.
Enjoy and Happy Passover!
Cover photo courtesy of @lashesandlemons
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