Thanks to Cabot Cheese for sponsoring this Passover post. All opinions stated herein are entirely my own. Enjoy this recipe for Matzo Brei with Cabot Cheddar and Avocado. A fresh take on a classic Jewish dish!
Is it even Passover if you don’t have matzo brei at least once?
Matzo brei is more than just something you put up with during Passover because there is nothing better to eat. No, matzo brei is one of the most iconic and beloved American Jewish foods. For the unintiated, matzo brei is a dish made of pieces of matzo that have been softened in water and then mixed with beaten eggs and fried.
Matzo brei can swing to the savory or the sweet side, depending on how you top it. Some people like sour cream or hot sauce. Others like jam, syrup or even powdered sugar, when it resembles a Passover version of French toast. But however you take it, matzo brei is the embodiment of comfort food. Ruth Reichl, the former editor of Gourmet, once called it “one of life’s perfect foods.”
Personally, I like savory matzo brei, although I do have a wonderful recipe for sweet matzo brei roll-ups – very French toast-like – in my book The Joys of Jewish Preserving. A few years ago, though, I had an epiphany: I realized that matzo brei bears great resemblance to chilaquiles.
Are you familiar with chilaquiles? They show up on a lot of brunch menus. Chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of pieces of tortilla that are fried, covered with a green or red mole, and mixed with eggs. Chilaquiles can be topped with shredded chicken, avocado, cheese, crema or beans. Chilaquiles also strikes me as one of life’s perfect foods.
Since that important revelation, I always make a chilaquiles-inspired matzo brei with Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar, avocado and a dash of hot sauce. How can one go wrong with eggs, cheese, onions and a spicy sauce? Not even matzo can ruin that! This matza-quiles, as I call it, is velvety and moist and incredibly flavorful. It makes a perfect, ready-in-a-hurry, one-dish meal. I truly think this is matzo brei in its highest and best form.
In a dish this simple, the quality of the ingredients really matters. No, I don’t think it matters which matzo you choose. But it is definitely important to use award-winning Cabot cheddar. In this dish, I love the Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar with its crumbly texture and tangy bite; it adds a lot of flavor to the eggs and matzo, both of which are pretty neutral-tasting. A certified B Corporation, Cabot Cheese is a co-operative owned by farm families throughout New England and New York. That means that 100% of profits go back to the farmers. They have been doing business this way for 100 years, which is pretty amazing.
Matzo brei is a traditional breakfast dish during the eight days of Passover – when cereral, toast, bagels and other beloved breakfast foods are on the forbidden list. But I would argue that this savory, Mexican-inspired version of matzo brei would also make a worthy Passover lunch or even dinner with a green salad or some roasted potatoes on the side. I don’t think my family would mind. Would yours?
Anyone getting excited for Passover yet?
Ingredients
- 2 TB butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 matzo boards broken into 1 inch pieces
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup Cabot Extra-Sharp Cheddar, grated
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 2 scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced
- 2 TB chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Add the diced onion and sauté over medium-low heat until lightly browned, about ten minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the broken pieces of matzo in a colander and bring a kettle of water to a boil.
- Slowly pour the boiling water over the matzo until all the pieces are soaked.
- Drain in the colander, shaking gently.
- Beat together the eggs, milk and cheddar cheese in a large bowl.
- Add the damp matzo to the egg mixture in the bowl.
- Pour the egg and matzo mixture into the skillet with the onion.
- Cook the matzo brei over medium-low heat, stirring as needed, just until the eggs are set.
- Arrange the matzo brei on a large plate. Garnish with avocado slices, scallion and chopped cilantro.
- Serve hot and pass your favorite hot sauce on the side.
