![Matzo Pizza](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/04/19/multimedia/mc-matzo-pizza-cbmg/mc-matzo-pizza-cbmg-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Matzo Pizza
Melissa Clark
87 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
87
10 minutes
Advertisement
Under cool running water, rinse matzo sheets until they are quite wet. Set it aside and let sit to soften while you prepare the pan.
Place a large, preferably nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add butter. Once it melts and the foam subsides, break matzo sheets into bite-size pieces and add to pan. Sauté matzo in butter until it browns all over, about 2 minutes.
Add eggs, salt and pepper (if you’re making the dish savory) to pan and scramble the mixture until it is just set but still light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with sugar (if you’re making it sweet) and toss well.
Serve matzo brei sprinkled with salt and topped with chives (savory), or with salt, additional sugar and maple syrup (sweet).
My mother dunked the matzo right into the egg (scrambled with a touch of milk for moisture) until it softened. The result was a much tastier matzo brei. Years later, when I tasted the matzo brei softened in water, it lacked flavor.
We do it slightly differently. Break up the matzoh, blanche with hot water to soften, then mix with beaten egg, a little milk, salt, pepper, powdered onion if you like. Then scramble to the desired degree of dryness. Guess you could also sautee some onion as well. Should be good! The egg soaks into the matzoh this way.
Like all ethnic cooking, everyone has their own recipe!
I have a large collection of Jewish cookbooks. None of them call for frying the matzah and making scrambled eggs mixed in. The idea is to treat it like French toast and let the egg soak into the matzah. Season before mixing everything.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the addition (along with sauteed onions) of some shreds of lox. Lox, eggs, onions and matzo: What could be bad?
My mother made the greatest matzo brei. Her secret that made hers the best was that she soaked the matzo in milk first. I miss it and her
This is a bad recipe. If you rinse the matzoh - spelled "matzoh" NYT - in water, you get with soggy matzoh. Yuck. Instead: Use 1 large egg to every 1 and 1/2 sheets of store-bought matzoh. (2 eggs, 3 sheets, etc.) Scramble the egg(s) with an equal amount of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Or some honey, cinnamon, etc.) Crack up the matzoh into bite-sized pieces over the bowl. Heat butter and pour the entire mixture on. Cook until it reaches the "doneness" you like.
I generally love Melissa's recipes. But this is not the way Jewish people prepare matzo brei. After soaking the matzo in water you let is soak in the scrambled egg, and the ratio is 1 egg per 2 slices of matzo or 2-3 eggs per 4 pieces .
My mother always dipped the matzo right into the egg mixture and let it sit for a while until the matzo absorbed the egg flavor and softened a bit. The result was a soft and crunchy matzo brei. The first time I tasted a matzo brei recipe that required wetting the matzo with water first, it tasted bland to me.
Lots of onions, fried very dark, are essential, for me.
My mom always softened matzo with water, crumbled it into beaten eggs, then into a fry pan bubbling with a generous amount of melted butter. Sugar on top to serve. Years later, a friend shared her family's take on brei that I've used since: after you incorporate softened broken up matzo into eggs, add a half sheet of dry broken up matzoh for crunch, then fry. Adds a satisfying crunch. Brei bliss.
I'm smiling as I read your notes, each offering your own variation and all conveying such feeling. We wet the matzah then add to well seasoned scrambled eggs. Let it sit in fridge for a bit, allowing the wet matzah to soak up seasoned egg. Fry it up in butter (we used to use shmalz) and s&p. When done, add more s&p and enjoy! Happy Pesach to all!
I'm 1/2 Italian + 1/2 Jewish so I make a Matzo Brei Frittata. I soak matzo in hot water or chicken broth), add loads of caramelized onions & garlic, cook on one side, flip onto the other side + voila. You can make individual ones in an 8 inch skillet or a larger one in a 10 inch skillet. A great side dish to serve with brisket, chicken etc., & always a breakfast/brunch treat. Some sour cream on the side is nice & when I'm channeling my Italian grandmother, ricotta! YUM!
The absolute best matzo brie similar to french toast. Whisk egg and milk together ( I add a little salt). Break up matzo into small pieces and marinate overnight.
Fry up in some olive oil- make it crunchy or soft. It's absolutely delicious and nothing compares to it!
I actually make a ton and keep it in the fridge for a few days.
From my childhood I remember it being called something like- siga frish de matzo- but I'm sure I've mutilated the German.
There are twelve-million ways to make matzo brei. Over the years I've tried about seven-hundred-thousand of them. I've pretty much settled in on the technique described by Ms. Clark in her recipe. A small variation is that I soak the crumbled matzo in (salted) water until quite soft and then I drain it and SQUEEZE as much water out of the matzo as possible. Then cook some onion, brown the matzo, add whatever you want (Lox, sugar, bananas, etc.), add the eggs and cook and eat. Yummmm...
Added sautéed onions, mushrooms, and sage cooked in butter, then served with a pinch of blue cheese and lox. Really good!
Gonna try the broken up/soaked in milk version, and add asparagus on the side.
I sautéed thinly sliced onion in the butter with a bit of salt and a sprinkle of sugar to caramelize the inion, then when golden brown, added the matzo (Streit’s onion poppy flavor - yum) as directed then, oh blasphemy, some chopped ham and then the eggs at low heat with sharp shredded cheddar on top. Not kosher but super good.
My grandmother did not break up and scramble the matzoh. She broke it into strips and briefly put them in water which was quickly drained. The strips were then put in egg. Then the eggy strips are laid overlapping in the buttered pan and fried. It is flipped, finished and served. This is the still I still make it.
Add a teaspoon of vanilla to the mix of eggs & milk; 1/8 cup of milk; cooks faster if covered (5 minutes on one side, 3 on the flip side)
I really loved this recipe because the matzoh was crispier than when I was soaking in egg mixture first. Delicious. My grandmother was from Germany and I could never figure out how she got it crispy. This worked
My ma always dunked a whole box of matzah in a mixture of water and yogurt every year (I don't know what was with the yogurt) and fried it up to serve with a dousing of cinnamon sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup. No eggs were ever involved with her brei when I was a kid. I dunk my box in a big bowl of dairy free milk but always use a couple eggs just so it's kind of filling. I like it savory now and throw in some spring veggies for myself, but my kids always request Bubbi-style brei.
You have to blend onions with the eggs. There is no favor without onions.
We make our matzo brei first soaking in water but soaking in egg mixture first rather than water; sounds importantly delicious. Thank you! But first we sauté onions and kosher salami then add the softened matzo adding “egg beaters” and salt and pepper! Adult kids love it and always request it… I had forgotten about lox. Thanks for that reminder.
I have been making matzoh brei for about forty years, only sweet, not savory. Here's my recipe, which I stand by. For 1-2 people: Take four plain ( not whole wheat or egg) matzoh. Crumble in largeish pieces. Soak them for about 3 minutes, no more, in water. Squeeze out excess water. Stir together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, sugar and salt to taste in a mixing bowl. Add the softened matzoh to the egg mixture.Heat 2 Tbs. butter in a frying pan. Add the matzoh/egg mixture. Fry on both sides.
My father, Milton, occasionally made this as a special Sunday treat for me over 60 years ago. (We also had Yiddish as our “private” language). He always soaked the matzoh in the egg/milk/vanilla mixture for a while. Then fried it in butter in an iron skillet, topped with some cinnamon and more butter and finally served with maple syrup. Unforgettable and deeply nostalgic. I’m going to make it this week for two Russian college students here in NYC who haven’t a clue about it. Chag Semeach !
This reminds me of my Grandpa, he always made this when we visited during Passover. My new hack - use schmaltz instead of butter. Incredible flavor when doing so.
In my family, fried matzo (or matzo brei) was always--always--served sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. (Or once in a great while with jam on top.)
Use 3 eggs instead of 4.
This isn't matzah brei, this is some travesty of a matzah scramble. Scramble eggs in a bowl, soak the matzah for a couple minutes in a separate bowl of water, squeeze out the excess water, then mix into egg mixture. Fry on the stove in butter until each side is brown. Never do you run water over matzah, /fry/ said unsoggy matzah, then add eggs to a hot pan unmixed with matzah. The egg is a binder, not the star of the show. I feel bad for anyone that tries this recipe.
This makes a good matzo brei. It's a different procedure that gets you to the same place. The trick is to know how wet the matzos should be before they are cooked. So I placed the matzo in a colander and put the colander under cold water for about 2 minutes. It had softened but not mushed at all. I was able to crack the matzo into small pieces, which I then fried until almost dried. Then I added the eggs and quickly scrambled them. Served with plenty of black pepper, chives, and sugar.
Advertisement