Tuesday, June 30, 2009

what do i do with all this leftover matzah?

yeah, like you got a box of that lying around the house. if you're a jew like me--this might be true! every year after passover, i have one or two boxes of matzoh taking up space in the pantry, and i can't bear to throw it away. the stuff stays crunchy for-EVA, so what to do?

kids, i give you: matzanga!

you'll need:

  1. a rectangular or square casserole dish
  2. the oven set to three-fiddy
  3. a box of matzoh
  4. two baked potatoes, thinly sliced (i used a mandolin)
  5. a couple cups of baby spinach or 1 box of frozen chopped spinach
  6. alfreda sauce from the book vegan with a vengeance

spray or brush that pan with olive oil. put a little bit of water (2T worth) at the bottom of the pan and lay your first layer of matzoh. i used a rectangular dish, so 2 matzahs covered the bottom. next put some alfreda sauce, then one layer of potato slices, then some spinach, more alfreda sauce, then another layer of matzoh repeat the sauce, taters, spinach and sauce, then top with last bits of matzah and remaining sauce. cover with foil (very important detail! this keeps everything from drying out) and bake for about 30-35 minutes.

what's matzoh?

easy answer for the goyim: a big assed cracker.

lengthy answer: the bread of the afflicted. matzoh was given by pharoh to the israelites during enslavement as rationed gruel because it was cheap and he could feed them less because it was 'filling'. jews eat this bread for this reason and to also symbolize having to motor outta egypt after the last plague carrying unleavened dough on their backs that made matzoh. during passover, jews eat tons of this stuff and refrain from 5 main grains: wheat, barley, rye, oats, and spelt. jews of ashkenazi descent further restrict their diets by not eating kitniyot-(little things) which includes rice, corn, beans, and other legumes. this can be a hellish time for vegans, because this means no soy. sephardic jews-(jews of middle eastern and spanish descent) do not have to adhere to the kitniyot rule. i have found myself getting very creative over the years by making a dish very similar to this, except for using pasta sauce in place of the alfreda sauce to avoid soy. if you're vegetarian, this is easier to make because you can use eggs or dairy, but what fun is that?
there's another rule about how one isn't supposed to get matzoh wet, but i figure that i'm doing enough by giving everything else up, so i'll get it wet if i wanna.

5 comments:

Virginia said...

i have never had matzah! sounds interesting!

Eddie G said...

Mmm...Jewish peeps make fun foods! Have I told you about my halvah addiction? Dangerous ;)

ZippyZu said...

I'm not Jewish- but I think these things are great- they definitely stay crispy forever and I liked them with peanut butter and banana- of course I like that on everything! This dish is so creative and looks so tasty- I think I might have to make some of this! Good idea!

nora said...

i was convinced that the answer was going to be "matzo brie" from vegan brunch, but this looks pretty freaking good too!

Anonymous said...

Makes me wanna say, "Cracker, what?!?" :) Loves it. Way to be crafty!