This matzo meat pie is a real showstopper and it tastes as good as it looks. Make sure to have four 4-inch round spring form pans on hand for the recipe. You can find the pans in kitchen stores or online. Wishing all a Happy and Sweet Passover.
Ingredients
Meat mixture
- 2 tablespoon cottonseed oil
- 1 red pepper, finely chopped
- 1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 10 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 1/3 cup barbecue sauce
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground pepper—about 10 grinds
- 1 cup matzo meal
- ½ cup pine nuts, toasted at 350 for 5 to8 minutes
- 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Matzo lining of spring form pans
- 10 matzos (the regular matzos that are 6” squares)
- 4 cups warm chicken stock or water
Egg glaze
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water
Before you begin, you will need four 4-inch spring form pans (available at kitchen stores or online), bottom and sides greased with vegetable spray.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the red and yellow peppers, onion and garlic, and sauté over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes until the onions are softened and translucent. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
Place the ground beef in a large bowl and with a fork break up into small pieces.
Add the sautéed peppers, onion and garlic, barbecue sauce, eggs, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, freshly ground pepper and mix well.
Add the matzo meal and pine nuts and 2 tablespoons parsley and combine until the mixture just holds together. You may need to add more matzo meal as needed to bind the mixture.
Line the spring-form pans: Pour the warm chicken stock into a shallow baking dish. Place one matzo into the warm chicken stock for a minute or two, until softened.
Remove, place on a cutting board and with a four-inch cookie cutter or the bottom of the spring-form pan, cut out a 4 inch circle of the matzo. Repeat this process 7 more times, so that you will have 4 matzo circles for the bottom of the pans and 4 for the top. You will have a lot of matzo scraps left over. Use the matzo scraps to make strips of approximately 2 inches high and 2 to 3 inches wide to line the sides of the spring form pans. To line the pans, place one matzo circle on the bottom of the pan, place the two inch strips in an overlapping pattern along the side of the pan. Fill the pans evenly with the prepared meat mixture. Place the remaining four circles on top of the meat. Brush on the egg glaze, then bake in the preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes.
The tops of the meat pies should be golden brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then sprinkle with pine nuts and parsley before serving.
Can be made several days ahead and refrigerated.
12 servings
Recipe developed by Judy Elbaum
Copyright 2016
Concept for matzo meat pie adapted from Claudia Roden
