Not-my-mother's Pesach rolls

Sorry, if you're looking for those sponge-caked based Pesachdik rolls that that they serve at hotels that are all the rage (I hear they make fantastic toasted garlic "bread"), this is not the place to look.

I really don't do recipes that require things like separating yolks and whites, beating whites into peaks, etc. I just don't enjoy that kind of kitchen work!

But the rolls.

When we first got married, after one Pesach in Israel sans family (that was a great Pesach in our apartment in Nachlaot - really, truly wonderful), we moved back to the States "for a few years", and we starting splitting Pesach between our two families - our parents live about a 3 hr drive apart, so we could easily split the time.


At my parents' house, my sweet husband was introduced to many Pesach foods that my mother had always made, but he hadn't ever had before!


A major hit: my mother's Pesach rolls. They are eggy and matzah mealy, and he loved them! Literally gobbled them up with just a sprinkling of salt. (I prefer to butter mine.)


So when we started making Pesach for ourselves and OUR guests, naturally I had to get my mother's recipe.
When I discovered that she used a dozen eggs for each  package of matzah meal she turned into rolls, I just said, "no way", and decided to play with the recipe.


The result is what you'll find below, after years of experimentation. Not only have I reduced the amount of eggs, I have also reduced the oil from the original recipe.


Not my mother's Pesach rolls

4 cups water
1/2 cup oil
1.5 T. sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package (500 g works perfectly) matzah meal
6 eggs
1/4 cup seltzer (room temp)

First in a large, shallow saucepan, bring the water, oil, salt, and sugar to a boil. Turn off flame. Add matzah meal, and stir well with a wooden spoon (DO NOT touch this mixture with your hands, it will be very hot). Remove from stove to a safe place on your counter. Allow matzah meal mixture to cool for at least 20 min. Add eggs and seltzer and mix it all really well. (If you need to use your hands to mix, that's ok, just be sure that the mixture has cooled off enough!)
Prepare a baking tray (I spread olive oil on mine) or two.
Using wet hands, form the mixture into balls and place on tray. I make about 30 rolls with this recipe, and they fly!
Bake at 190 C for about 20 - 25 min (sorry, I forgot to time it.) or until golden brown and puffed up.
They will deflate as they cool - but my husband can't get enough of them.

 

what's left of the last batch. these are deflated...

 Have you ever made this kind of matzah meal roll before?