Matzah Ball Soup: The Upgrade

Tonight is the first night of Passover, the holiday where we Jews celebrate the Exodus from Egypt and the miraculous journey through the desert by eating a flat, dry cracker for the next eight days.  But there is one part of the holiday (other than watching The Prince of Egypt - much better than the original Ten Commandments, Charlton Heston aside) that I have always looked forward to: matzah ball soup.

Traditionally served in a chicken soup (vegetable for me), matzah balls are little dumplings made out of the crumbled up flat, dry cracker.  In this form, it is not only edible, but very enjoyable.  But in my family, we have used roughly the same soup recipe for years.  Well, not this year.

I should preface this recipe with a disclaimer for any observant Jews out there.  First off, yes, I am posting this on the holiday itself, which would not be allowed in an Orthodox household, which I don't keep.  Secondly, Ruth and I keep a version of the Passover dietary laws that is used by Jews of Sephardic descent (mostly Spain and North Africa), which has a few less restrictions.

Ok, with that out of the way, here was my soup for this first night.

Chickpea Matzah Ball Soup
2 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 medium onion
2 large carrots
4 sticks celery
3 cloves garlic
Vegetable stock
Turmeric, paprika, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, cardamom, cumin, to taste
Your favorite matzah balls, from scratch or a mix
2 tbsp lemon juice
Rough chop the onion, carrots celery, and garlic (or use garlic powder) and add to a very small amount of olive oil in the bottom of a soup pot, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add crushed red pepper when the onion begins to sweat (I use about a tablespoon, but I like my food with a kick).  When the vegetables start to get soft, add chickpeas and cover with stock, adding the remainder of your spices (for me, again, about a tablespoon of turmeric, a teaspoon of cumin, 2 teaspoons of paprika, and half a teaspoon of cardamom).  Cover the pot, and simmer until the mixture is soft, or about 40 minutes.  Remove it from the heat and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.  The soup should not be too thick, or the matzah balls will not absorb any of it, which would be a shame.  Add lemon juice.  Then cook your matzah balls in the soup until they are soft and fluffy and have absorbed some of the liquid.