Slow: Food Worth Taking Time Over

Matzo balls

When testing this I discovered that the recommended resting period was essential to allow the matzo meal to absorb all the liquid.

MAKES 16 PING-PONG-SIZE BALLS

Preparation time 5 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting

Cooking time 5 minutes

100g matzo meal

2 medium free-range eggs, whisked

50g schmaltz (chicken fat), ghee or clarified butter

100ml chicken soup or extra chicken stock

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

Put the matzo meal in a bowl with the eggs, shmaltz, chicken stock, baking powder, white pepper and salt. Mix together well until you have a wet dough and then leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil and shape the dough into 16 balls. When the water boils, poach the balls for about 5 minutes until they rise to the surface. Then add them to the soup along with the noodles and chicken.

Salt beef kreplach

I’ve used leftover salt beef (see here) to make these and although it’s not traditional, I prefer them to the classic beef ones.

MAKES 48 DUMPLINGS

Preparation time 10 minutes, plus 20 minutes resting

Cooking time 4 minutes

300g 00 grade pasta flour

3 medium free-range eggs

1 tbsp beef dripping or chicken schmaltz

500g leftover salt beef (you can use raw minced beef chuck and a little beef fat)

1 onion cooked in the chicken soup, or 1 onion cooked slowly for 15 minutes in oil or beef dripping, mixed with the salt beef

You need either a table-top mixer with a dough hook or a food processor. Blitz together the flour, eggs and fat. The dough should come together and look like lots of small pebbles of pastry. Turn it out of the bowl and knead for about 2–3 minutes until it is firm and shiny. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Cut the dough into 4, take one quarter and cover the rest with a warm damp towel. Roll out the first quarter. You shouldn’t need much (or any) flour and sometimes it’s better to roll with semolina to prevent the kreplach becoming sticky when you poach them. Use a 9cm cutter to cut rounds of dough as if you were making ravioli. Place a large teaspoon of the salt beef and onion filling into the centre of each disc of dough. Brush the edges with water or egg and fold the outside rim to close like half moons. Place the made dumplings onto a tray lined with greasproof paper and scattered with a little semolina flour if possible. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Cook this like fresh pasta: bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the kreplach for 4 minutes. Drain and add to the soup.

Under the Weather All the Veg Soup

In the grisly months when the weather is bringing you down both physically and emotionally, you can rest easy that at least winter provides you with some of the most important vegetables for your health. This soup is the perfect restorative – the barley is wholesome, the greens are health-giving and the broth will bring you back to life.

SERVES 6

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cooking time 30 minutes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 leeks, halved and shredded few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

1 bay leaf

200g pearl barley

2 litres vegetable or chicken stock

1 large courgette, quartered then thinly sliced

bunch of cavolo nero, finely shredded

2 large spring onions, finely shredded

pinch of cayenne pepper

large pinch of white pepper

juice of ½ lemon

large handful of parsley, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large heavy-based saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onions. Cook for about 15 minutes until they have softened and started to go golden, before adding the garlic. Cook for a further minute or two, then add the white part of the shredded leeks (keep the green part for later), the thyme and bay leaf. Allow the leeks to soften for about 5 minutes. Next mix in the pearl barley and cook it for a minute before pouring in the stock.

Cook at a medium simmer for about 25 minutes until the pearl barley has cooked through but still retains some bite. At this stage add the courgette, cavolo nero, the green part of the leeks and the spring onions. The vegetables will only take a few minutes to cook through. Before serving season with the cayenne pepper, white pepper, black pepper, salt, lemon juice and parsley.

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