What to Do With Matzo Bread?
Used during Passover in Jewish custom, matzo bread represents the beginning of harvest time in Israel, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. A flat bread that typically resembles a large cracker, matzo is made from a mixture of flour and water cooked quickly to avoid rising, or leavening, to produce an "unleavened" bread. Although a symbol of religious practice for Jews, matzo has many uses outside of tradition.
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Common Jewish Foods
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Many Jewish recipes use crumbled matzo, better known as matzo meal. Oil, matzo meal and eggs, mixed together, form the matzo balls for matzo ball soup, a Jewish staple that also contains a water or chicken broth with two or three vegetables, such as carrots and celery. On the Judaism 101 website, Tracey Rich identifies "holishkes" -- cabbage leaves stuffed with ground beef and matzo meal and cooked in a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce -- as another Jewish food made with matzo.
Snacks and Appetizers
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In addition to the well-known commercial matzo with a hard, crunchy texture, another type of matzo is "similar in texture to pitas or tortillas," according to Bread Site. Pairing matzo crackers with various cheeses such as feta or cheddar makes for a quick appetizer during Passover and year-round. Tuna salad, fruit slices or hummus on top of matzo crackers works as a filling snack before meals.
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Desserts
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Desserts with matzo as an ingredient often rely on chocolate or honey. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, observant households that keep kosher don't serve dairy desserts with or just after a meat-based meal, but some matzo-based desserts do contain dairy. Matzo meal can replace flour in a cake or pie crust.
Substitutions
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During Passover, many U.S. Jews substitute matzo in recipes that normally contain leavened dough or pasta, creating such dishes as "matzah pizza" and "matzagna," which is lasagna with matzo. Stuffed squash halves with matzo stuffing makes for an elegant vegetarian entree, Associated Press writer J.M. Hirsh suggests in a March 2002 article. Matzo meal fills in for oat- or flour-based toppings in such recipes as casseroles, fish bakes and apple crisp, while crumbled matzo can replace crackers in soups and croutons on salads.
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References
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