donut pan idea no. 43: matzoh donut soup

I am really happy to have the time again to work on my donut pan project. It's been weeks since I made any donut-shaped goodies, and I've really missed them. I'm glad to be back at it!

Passover starts next week and I've yet to make a soup in this series, so how about matzoh donut soup? Sounds crazy, but it's crazy good! There's actually a practical element to using the donut pans with the matzoh. The pans eliminate the need for refrigerating the batter for two to four hours as recommended. Instead I briefly coddled the batter in the pans to get the shape before cooking in the soup. Serious time saver. And again, I don't eat many matzoh balls, but these donuts were really delicious.

I adapted (to put it lightly) this Martha Stewart recipe to yield a dozen matzoh donuts and about six bowls of soup.

You will need 6 large eggs, 6 tbsp. vegetable oil (or schmaltz), 1 c. water, 1 tbsp. salt, 2 cups matzoh meal, 12 cups chicken stock or broth, 3 carrots, 2 parsnips and fresh dill for garnish. You will also need a large roasting pan for the coddling, a good sized Dutch oven to cook the soup in, and extra vegetable oil for greasing the pans.

Click on "read more" down below to get the full tutorial!

Start by cracking the six eggs into a large bowl. Whisk in the six tbsp. vegetable oil (or schmaltz), then the one c. water and one tbsp. salt. Finally, whisk in the two c. of matzoh meal, and you've got a batter. It is a bit runny like a batter, so don't worry if it seems a little wet.

Set the bowl of batter in the freezer for up to fifteen minutes while you grease your donut pans with vegetable oil and chop your carrots and parsnips.

After fifteen minutes, the batter will have set up just a bit so you can work with it. Gently spread the batter in the prepared donut pans with your fingers, wetting your fingers frequently to keep the batter from sticking to them. You want to avoid compacting the batter, otherwise your matzoh donut could end up more dense than light.

Go ahead and set the pans in the freezer for a few moments as you ready the roasting pan for coddling. It doesn't hurt to have the donuts set up a little more before they hit the heat. Don't leave them in the freezer for more than ten minutes.

Set a roasting pan over two burners. Set one of the filled donut pans in the bottom of the roasting pan, and add water until it comes to just the bottom of the donut pan lip. Carefully get the water simmering. Simmer for ten minutes only. This is the same method of coddling that I used for my eggs two ways, which were really fun to eat!

Coddle the matzoh donuts for ten minutes (be careful not to go longer, they might end up too tough), then carefully remove the first pan from the simmering water. Start the second pan of matzoh donuts in the water for ten minutes. While those are working, remove the donuts from the first pan by loosening the edges with a butter knife. Pry them from the pan and set aside. They come out fairly easily, leaving just a little residue behind.

Set a large Dutch oven over one (or two, if your Dutch oven is big enough) burners. Add the twelve cups of chicken stock or broth and bring to a low rolling boil. Slide the matzoh donuts into the broth, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for ten minutes. 

After ten minutes, add the chopped carrots and parsnips. Stir them in gently, cover, and cook twenty more minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the inside of the matzoh donuts are lightly colored like the outside. A darker inside means they need to cook a few more minutes.

To serve, set one donut in the bottom of a wide bowl. Arrange vegetables around the edges and pour broth over it all. Garnish with fresh dill.

This was dinner last night, and will be dinner again tonight. Who knew this stuff was so tasty? The coddling step might seem a little complicated, but it does save so much time from the process of working with matzoh batter that this could be a weekday meal, easily. I approve!