Deluxe Matzo Brei

Deluxe Matzo Brei

Passover is almost over, thank G-d! For all of you who aren't familiar with Passover, it is a Jewish holiday surrounding the events of the Israelites fleeing Egypt. During Passover, we are not suppose to eat food with flour. More observant Eastern European Jews are not even allowed to have corn, rice, beans... Not eating wheat flour is not a big deal for me, but I do like eating cereal in the morning. During passover I have to find something else to eat for breakfast. One of the most common Passover breakfasts is matzo brei. Matzo is a giant cracker which is the only type of food containing flour Jews are allowed to eat during Passover.

Matzo brei is like matzo french toast, matzo omelet, or matzo frittata. This quick recipe is a deluxe version of matzo brei that can be made your way. If you like it enough, you'll be happy to know that matzo is available year round at most supermarkets in the ethnic isle. This recipe was loosely inspired by this recipe: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/4654/matzo-spinach-frittata.aspx

1. First start by cooking your spinach. Any size bag of fresh spinach will work. Although the original recipe calls for frozen spinach, fresh spinach is so much better. There is no thawing involved and you don't have to worry about draining the cooked spinach since most of the liquid will quickly cook off. You can use regular spinach, baby spinach, a mix of spinach and other dark leafy greens. Heat up a pan with a little bit of oil, cooking spray or butter. Add as much spinach in as you can.

You might have to work in batches, but that is okay. Spinach shrinks dramatically when it cooks. You will always need to buy a bigger bag than you think. Mix around the spinach until it shrinks.

This is not a photoshop job, the spinach cooked down that much. Add a little bit a salt to the spinach. Don't worry about cleaning the pan the spinach was cooked in, you will use it right away.

2. While the spinach is cooking, whisk 4 whole eggs in a medium bowl. Once the spinach is done and cooled a little bit, add the spinach into the eggs and whisk again.

3. Add 3 whole matzo crackers that have been broken into pieces no larger than a square inch, though you don't want to break them up so fine that the matzo becomes matzo powder. Mix everything togather.

4. Here is where you make this recipe yours. Mix anything else you would want to put in. I put in pieces of turkey pepperoni, sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and shredded cheese. Have fun and experiment. Mix everything together well. Finish with a little more salt.

5. Heat up that same pan you cooked the spinach in on medium high with a little bit of cooking spray. Once the pan is hot enough, pour in your matzo mixture. I like to add a little more Parmesan on top.

6. Cook the mixture until the bottom browns.

7. Try to flip the mixture over in one piece. If you can, you are better at this than me because I haven't been able to. If you have to break it up into smaller pieces to do that, that is okay. Brown the other side.

8. You are done. Even though I could eat cereal three times a day, matzo brei is still a legit breakfast.