Just made this tonight (half the recipe, since it’s just two of us). Delicious!
Oh, no, it's so much better than saltines when spread with butter!
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Meat matzah lasagna is on our menu for next week. Mix a pound each of ground turkey and beef, layer between sheets of matzah (I might moisten the sheets) and slices of eggplant, smother in tomato sauce of choice and bake covered at 350 deg F for about an hour or so.
I too am a fan of butter on matzah. Also, matzah brei never gets old. Never. Eat it the traditional way, soaked in sweet wine and covered in sugar.
In the absurd land of 2019 this could be cultural appropriation.....
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The recipe sounds delicious.
However, I take exception to the comment that matzo with salted butter gets old. On the contrary, I can eat matzo with Irish butter forever.
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@crf Thanks, so do I.
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I make enough Romesque sauce for the asparagus served at seder to have leftovers. Layered with roasted asparagus, goat cheese, and matzo with a thick layer of grated Manchego on top it has a fantastic encore during the holiday week.
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Matzah and cream cheese is my basic go-to for the week.
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I love matzo lasagna! Although I read that Ricotta is not kosher for passover so I used cottage cheese instead.
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This has been a favorite in Israel for years. Very common.
It's good, but doesn't compare with noodle based lasagna.
Just want to tamp down the expectations a bit....
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Been doing this my whole life. It was my favorite Passover-week dinner growing up about 30 years ago.
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It's "matzah." "Matzo" is the phonetic equivalent of a corned beef and mayo sandwich on white bread.
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@Lowden
Just Ashkenazi vs. Sephardi pronunciation. There isn't a right and wrong way.
And BTW, lots of Jews all over the world use mayo on cold cuts. The whole anti-Mayo thing is mostly a NY thing. It certainly doesn't define "Jewish" vs. "non Jewish" elsewhere.
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@Lowden
Streits spells it that way, and that is good enough for me and anyone else with Yiddish roots.
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Do you think matzos instead of noodle would work in this white mushroom lasagne? http://useful-delicious.com/2019/02/24/white-mushroom-lasagna/
@Kebabullah-why not?
How would it be cooked in an 'Instant Pot'?
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@Buddy--not very well
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I've been doing this for years. Also: matzo-pizza and matzah pie with herbs (the Persian one with cheese, and massive amounts of dill, parsley, cilantro and lemon). Can also make with meat (but no cheese then, in our home) so layer with onions, potatoes and cooked ground beef with whatever spices you like; coriander is probably kitniyot, cumin is probably not. Authorities differ. IF you follow the newer conservative guidelines, you can even have fresh beans (but not dried one) so make chili, why not??
Pesach can feel very loooong, with the food restrictions. Recipes that treat matzo as something more normal help a lot.
Happy and kosher Pesach!
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We make "Machos" i.e. Matzoh Nachos by layering pieces of matzoh with mozzarella cheese and salsa then microwaving until matzohs soften.
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If you look at the ingredients there is very little difference between lasagna noodles and matzo. I tried making matzo with my pasta machine and my friends at the Seder loved it!
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@ James Cawse Pittsfield MA
But was your home-made matzo certified "kasher for Passover"? :-))
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This dish does not surprise me. For years, one of the early courses my mother would serve at the seder meal was matzo balls and meatballs in tomato sauce (without cheese, of course). It took me well into adulthood, and having eaten many multicourse Italian meals, to realize that this was her version of a pasta course, with matzo balls replacing spaghetti. I doubt she ever thought about it that way; I just know the entire extended family -- without a drop of Italian blood in any of us -- loved it.
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My late grandmother was the queen of matzo lasagnas! In the fifties, in Egypt and France, she made them in numerous ways: with just eggs and cheese using a "haloumi" style cheese; with eggplant and cheese using same cheese where she'd use a béchamel on top; with ground meat and tomato sauce where she'd skip the béchamel because of kosher rules.
She also made "matzo burekas" where she'd cut up matzo in rectangles, placed a slice of haloumi cheese in between two pieces, dipped them in beaten egg, and fried them.
I still do it to this day: my family loves them!
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@AA These are all great ideas!
Spinach lasagna using matzoh for the noodles is also very good. I prefer the "white" variety that uses béchamel instead of tomato sauce, in which case you should make the sauce a little thin, as the matzoh will provide a lot of thickening.
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Buttered matzo is SO much better than saltines.
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@Paula David YES! I can’t believe she tried to denigrate matzah with butter and salt.
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@Paula David
Yeah, I don't know where she got that from - just salt the butter if you miss the salt.
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We are not even Jewish, and we always buy matzo instead of saltines!
We make this during Passover. It tastes so much like regular lasagna! Great mid-week meal!
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I'll be trying this recipe for sure next week sometime. Maybe without the egg. Makes me wonder about throwing some matzah in a shakshuka recipe, Passover recipes get a bit redundant as one experiences more and more of those 8 days foregoing leavened bread. Oh and kosher cheeses, for reasons I've never quite figured out, tend to be ridiculously expensive. Even more than other products subject to what I term "the kosher mafia."
I posted to point out that matzah with cream cheese and jam goes much further than butter and salt, although even that gets "stale" towards the end of the holiday.
Chag kasher v'sameach everyone. May we all break free of some of the metaphorical chains that are enslaving us.
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@ foodalchemist 2farfromdabeach
"kosher cheeses ... tend to be ridiculously expensive" -- do not be surprised, the kasher food industry is overstaffed with inspectors and supervisors, for those services the kashrut-observing consumer pays though the nose. To note, there is nothing on food prohibitions in the Ten Commandments, but all are later layers oif varnish superimposed by the theologians and theocrats.
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I never thought of using matzo in place of lasagna noodles. Brilliant suggestion Ms. Clark!
I always detested making those wide noodles because never was there a time in which I didn't burn my hands and/or fingers from either the hot water or those hot, sticky noodles.
Preparing this dish the day before and then popping it in the oven an hour before meal time is an incredible time saver.
And people wonder why I love your articles and recipes!!
Thanks again for the timely suggestion.
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@ Marge Keller Midwest
My earlier reply to your comment did not get through, possibly because I mixed there my thoughts about the author's recipe with some political views.
The culinary gist of it was: I wholly agree with you about the noodles. The author calls her dish a "post-Seder offering", which I presume relieves any practicing Judaic from questioning the compatibility of other ingredients with the Passover religious rules.
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@Tuvw Xyz
Thanks for your comment. All I know is that lasagna noodles were always too heavy and thick for my taste, although I still love and enjoy the flavors of lasagna. I thought matzo were the perfect solution to my picky tastes. I can just picture and taste those tomatoey soaked matzo coupled with cheese and fresh basil melting in my mouth. All the flavors I find irresistible and comforting. The best part is that I can prepare this dish a day in advance and then simply slide it into the oven, smelling the rich aromas come together while I prepare a cold, crisp salad - with appropriate flatware. Sorry, I couldn't resist being a smarty pants.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
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@Tuvw Xyz
No reason this dish can't be fully kosher for Passover.
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