Today, we celebrate Passover, one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. The eight day celebration commemorates the pilgrimage to freedom of Israelites from Egypt. The Israelites left in such a hurry that the bread they baked did not have time to rise. To remember their plight, we avoid chametz—or leavened grain—for eight days during Passover. That includes bread, cereal, pasta, cookies…even cake!
Instead of chametz, we eat Matzah. Matzah is a staple of Seder. Seder is observed on the first two nights of Passover; It is a meal packed with traditional recipes and rituals including: matzah, bitter herbs, grape juice, and reciting the Haggadah (or the story of Exodus).
While it may be difficult to find kosher (meaning prepared according to Jewish law) wheat to make your own Matzah, we can explore leavened versus unleavened bread with a few pantry items! The following recipe is not up to strict standards but, if that is okay with you, it is a delicious experiment!
Yeast is the main ingredient that makes bread rise. What will happen if we do not add it to our recipe? That’s right…flat bread! Make your own flatbread, or Matzah, with the recipe below.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup water
- Rolling pin
- Fork
Directions
- Preheat oven to 475, line baking sheet with parchment paper
- Mix together flour and water and start to knead until it comes together, about 5 minutes.
- Separate the dough into 1/4 cup pieces.
- Using your rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface as thin as you can.
- Move to baking sheet. The bread will not grow so, you can crowd the baking sheet.
- Prick the dough all over with a fork.
- Bake for about 4 minutes, or until crispy.
- Remove from the oven, let cool, and enjoy!
- (Optional) Take a picture and put it on Instagram so everyone can see what you made!
Have a simple and fun recipe you’d like to share? E-mail Chef Liz!