The Best Passover Recipes To Cook (And Drink) At Home

Passover kicks off at sunset this evening and extends through next Thursday. The annual Jewish festival will be a particularly poignant one this year for obvious reasons. If you’re celebrating and can’t be with loved ones because of the lockdown, it’s quite simple to set up a virtual seder. Zoom is probably your best bet there. That part is easy. The more laborious mission is figuring out what to put on the table—especially when you don’t have the chefs of the family to help.

If you’re looking for the basics—horseradish, matzos, jarred gefilte fish (why would you do this to yourself?)—you can get it all delivered to your door anywhere in the US from grocery delivery services. Or for more speciality goods, you can try your luck with Glatt Kosher Store once they’ve managed to sort out a temporary supply shortage issue.

When you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and start cooking, here are a few (not so) traditional recipes to prepare with relative ease in your home kitchen.

Maple Glazed Rack of Ribs (courtesy of Pereg Natural Foods)

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-5 pound) rack of beef ribs
• 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon kosher black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher paprika
• 1 teaspoon kosher onion powder
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place ribs into a large roasting pan; set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine oil, salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic, and sugar. Mix well to form a paste. Rub paste all over the top and bottom of the meat.
3. If you have time, let the meat stand at room temperature for 1 hour to absorb some of the flavors.
4. In a second bowl, mix maple syrup, wine, vinegar, tomato paste, and salt. Pour over the meat. Cover the meat really well. Place in oven for 16 hours overnight.
5. Brush pan juices over meat; cut apart ribs just before serving.

Fluffiest Matzoh Balls (courtesy of Pereg Natural Foods)

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs
• 6 tablespoons Olive oil
• 1/3 cup Club Soda
• 2 Tablespoons Club Soda
• 1 ½ cup Pereg Matzoh Crumbs
• 4 quarts Water
• 2 Tablespoons Pereg Passover Zahtar

DIRECTIONS:

• Whisk eggs and olive oil in a bowl until combined; stir both amounts of club soda and salt into egg mixture. Mix matzo meal and Zahtar into wet ingredients to form a workable dough; if mixture is too wet, stir in 1/4 cup more matzo meal Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Wet your hands and form matzo ball dough into walnut-size balls. Gently place matzo balls into boiling water. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer matzo balls until tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

Passover Hush Puppy Potato Knishes (courtesy of Naomi Nachman)

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 eggs, divided
• 3 tablespoons potato starch
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• pinch of white pepper
• 2 hot dogs, cut into 1/2-inch slices

 DIRECTIONS:

• Add potatoes and water to cover to a medium pot. Bring to a boil; cook until fork tender. Drain well.
• Mash the potatoes well in a large bowl. Add three eggs, potato starch, mayonnaise, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, mixing well to combine. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with Gefen Easy Baking Parchment Paper. Scoop up mounds of the potato mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Press a hot dog slice into the center of each potato mound until it’s completely covered.
• Whisk the remaining egg to make an egg wash. Brush each potato mound with the egg wash. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, until the potato mound starts to brown.  
• Variation: For a “doughless potato knish,” omit the hot dog, resulting in parve knishes.

Now for the drinks. Noted spirits and cocktail author Aaron Goldfarb isn’t particularly fond of kosher wine. So in his latest tome, Gather Around Cocktails, he arrives at a creative workaround for the Jewish holiday. “I’m not a huge wine drinker so I wanted to figure out a way to integrate cocktails in the Seder and still be Kosher,” he says. “And still get tanked, of course.” The result? The Seder Slake.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup reposado tequila
• 3 ounces Charoseth Syrup (To make: in a small saucepan combine 2/3 cup of honey, 1 cup water, 1 finely chopped apple, 1/2 cup crushed walnuts over medium heat. Let sit for 1 hour then strain into container and refrigerate)
• 2 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 2 ounces fresh lime juice
• 4 egg whites
• 2 ounces Manischewitz wine

DIRECTIONS (For Passover Seder, makes 4 cocktails)

• Combine the tequila, syrup, lemon and lime juice, and the egg whites in a shaker (without ice) and do a dry shake.
• Add ice and shake hard. 
• Strain into wine glasses and top each with ½ ounce of the wine.

Intimidated—or just unwilling—to test out your skills in the kitchen? Well if you live in a city with an outsized supply of kosher cuisine (looking at you, LA and NY), you have plenty of options of prepared meals to choose from. Angelenos, for example, can pre-order a special Passover Seder meal from Jar on Beverly Boulevard. Chef Suzanne Tracht typically hosts one herself at her modern American chophouse. This year a selection of matzoh-crusted chicken, braised lamb shank, pot roast and, of course, matzoh ball soup, are all available for pickup with 48 hours advanced notice.

In New York, iconic Jewish deli Katz’s will mail you its world-famous pastrami and brisket, with free shipping. Its Lower East Side neighbor, Russ & Daughters sends orders of its legendary smoked fish and Super Heebster specials anywhere in the United States by way of a partnership with Goldbelly. Don’t forget the chopped liver.

On Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EDT, the restaurant hosts a virtual seder on Zoom. To participate, they’re asking for a $20 donation to benefit employees who aren’t able to work during the quarantine.

“For 106 years, whatever challenges New York, New Yorkers, and the country as a whole have weathered, Russ & Daughters has weathered them with you and because of you,” says a message on the restaurant’s website. “It is one of our deepest joys and highest obligations to be a bedrock of continuity for our community. We will get through this too because we plan on being here for you for another 106 years.”

To all those celebrating across the globe: Chag sameach!