Aaron's Chicken Matzoball Soup

This is another one of our fall favorites. Aaron's favorite soup is Chicken Noodle. But I'm not a huge fan. Usually when we would make soup and sandwiches, I would have tomato and he would have chicken noodle...from a can. Once we started making our own however, we both loved the other one's favorite. (See http://homesweetspice.blogspot.com/2013/10/creamy-tomato-soup.html for my favorite creamy tomato soup).

So here is Aaron's Chicken Matzoball soup. It makes at least 6 servings. And we have not tried freezing it. Adjust the amounts for how much you want.

The next time we make this, I'll take more photos.

~ Ingredients ~ 

Serves 6

(For the soup)

2-3 lbs of chicken

11 cups of chicken OR vegetable stock (we use chicken)

2 onions, chopped

2 celery stocks, chopped (sometimes we use 2 tsp of celery seed - pictured)

2 carrots, chopped or one can

2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped 

2 fresh parsley sprigs OR 2 tsp dried parsley

2 oz vermicelli

salt and pepper

~ Ingredients ~ 

4 tbsp butter

 1/2 onion, grated

1 egg yolk

1 egg

1 tsp dried parsley (or 1 tbsp chopped fresh)

1 tbsp water

2 cups crushed matzo crackers

salt and pepper

~ Directions ~

First you should make the matzo balls. Start by melting 1 tbsp of butter in a small pan/skillet.

Add the grated onion to the butter and cool over a low heat until the onion has softened. Stir occasionally for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool.

Take the remaining butter and beat in a bowl until fluffy. Slowly beat in the egg and egg yolk, then add the parsley, onion, salt and pepper.

Mix well then beat in the water. 

Add the matzo cracker crumbs until thoroughly mixed. Cover the mixture and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Now you can start your soup!

Put the chicken pieces in a large stock pot (at least 6 qt.) and add in the stock. Bring this to a boil over medium-low  heat (turn it up if need be) and skim the foamy looking stuff that comes to the surface. Simmer this for 15 minutes.

Add in the chopped onion, carrots, celery, tomatoes, parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about an hour. By this time, the chicken should be cooked through and nice and tender. 

While this is cooking, bring out the matzoball mixture and make about 18 balls. Make sure the mixture is wet enough that the balls stick. If they keep falling apart, add a bit more egg.

Strain the soup into a fresh pan (or skim out the vegetables & fresh herbs if you used them). You'll notice in my photo that I showed two soups. My husband likes his soups without the veggies. I like it with. SO you don't have to take them out. At least the fresh herbs if used though.  

Take out the chicken and shred or chop into small pieces. Add back to the soup.

Next add the vermicelli and THEN the matzo balls. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. If you didn't pack your matzoballs really well or the mixture was too dry, they may fall apart more than you'd like while cooking. It will still taste good though!

The above picture was our final product. Aaron's is on the left and mine is on the right. We skimmed out the veggies and put them in a small bowl. I just added a few spoonfuls to my dish when we were ready to eat. Really good either way you have it :)

Perfect for a cold fall/winter day! And I honestly believe the leftovers taste EVEN BETTER!!

Mangia!