Passover panzanella with matzo brei croutons
Passover is a holiday of heavy foods. There’s brisket, potato kugel and way too much matzo. But if you have leftover steak and a jar of horseradish left over from the seder plate, you can make this delightful salad.
The recipe, from Chanie Apfelbaum’s new cookbook, “Totally Kosher: Tradition with a Twist! 150+ Recipes for the Holidays and Every Day” (Clarkson Potter, $37.50), calls for making croutons out of the same ingredients used to make breakfast-centric matzo brei — egg, matzo, oil and seasonings — ovenbaked to a crisp instead of pan-fried.
PASSOVER PANZANELLA WITH MATZO BREI CROUTONS
MATZO BREI CROUTONS: 1 extra-large egg white,
beaten
2 tablespoons extra-virgin
olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
3 square unsalted matzos
or 2 round matzos STEAK AND SALAD: 1 pound London broil (preferably the shoulder blade cut) 2 tablespoons grapeseed
oil
Kosher salt and coarseground black pepper to taste
2 heads romaine, roughly
chopped
2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 carrot, peeled into
ribbons 4 radishes, thinly sliced 1 avocado, sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly
sliced
HORSERADISH DRESSING: 1/2 cup mayonnaise 3 tablespoons grated
horseradish 1 tablespoon freshly
squeezed lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced Kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper to taste
To prepare the croutons: Heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white with the olive oil, salt, oregano, garlic powder and pepper. Break the matzo into small pieces, about 1/2 inch, and add them to the bowl. Gently toss the mixture with a spoon until the matzo is fully coated, then spread it out on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the matzo crisps up into clusters. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
To prepare the steak: Rub the London broil with the grapeseed oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. (I like to use a lot of pepper so that it’s pepper-crusted.) Grill over high heat or broil on a sheet pan with the oven rack in the highest position for 6 to 8 minutes per side, until the steak is charred on the outside and cooked to medium-rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. Thinly slice crosswise and against the grain.
To make the dressing:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, horseradish, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper until creamy. If a thinner consistency is desired, add water to thin.
To make the salad: In a large bowl, combine the romaine, cucumbers, carrot, radishes, avocado and onion. Toss with the horseradish dressing. Top with the meat and the croutons and serve.