Name: Matzo Brei with Mushroom and Chives
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 2½ tablespoons unsalted butter or schmaltz; ⅔ cup chopped white mushrooms; ½ teaspoon pepper , divided; 1/4 teaspoon table salt , divided; 3 large eggs; 2 sheets plain, unsalted matzo , (about 2 ounces), broken into approximate 1½-inch pieces; 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Why This Recipe Works

Matzo brei (Yiddish for “fried matzo”) is an Ashkenazi dish of eggs, matzo (unleavened flatbread made from flour and water), and fat that's eaten during Passover, the Jewish holiday during which observers avoid eating leavened food. To make a scrambled version with hearty egg presence, we used three eggs for two sheets of matzo; that way, the cooked dish was cohesive and boasted tender pockets of egg. Soaking the broken matzo pieces in the whisked eggs cut out the usual separate step of soaking them in water or milk before cooking. Frying the egg-matzo mixture in flavorful fat such as butter or schmaltz suffused the dish with rich flavor that worked well as a backdrop for a range of toppings and seasonings. Liberally seasoning the dish with salt and pepper made it ultrasavory. Mushrooms added meaty texture and flavor to the eggs and matzo. Chives lent bright flavor as well as underlying savory notes. Crème fraîche provided a bit of tangy decadence and creaminess.

Before You Begin

The brittleness of matzo makes it challenging to break into uniform pieces; don't worry if yours are slightly irregular. Different brands of matzo hydrate at slightly different rates; start checking for softness at the beginning of the time range in step 2. We like to serve this with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Instructions

Melt butter in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and ⅛ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have shrunken and started to brown, 6 to 8 minutes.

While mushrooms cook, whisk eggs, remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper, and remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt in medium bowl until no streaks of white remain. Add matzo pieces to egg mixture. Stir and fold until matzo is thoroughly coated with egg and pieces have softened (they should maintain their shape, but you should be able to break them easily with spatula), 2 to 4 minutes.

Add matzo mixture to skillet and gently but constantly stir and fold mixture onto itself, scraping along bottom and sides of skillet as needed until eggs are soft and just set, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.