Passover is fast-approaching and lots of folks on the Bon App\u00e9tit staff (myself included) are celebrating with a seder. We asked them what they\u2019re cooking for the holiday: Dense or fluffy matzo balls? Chicken or brisket or\u2026meatballs? Explore the recipes, ranging from BA classics to cherished family heirlooms, below. You might even find new inspiration for your table.<\/p>\n
Shawarma-spiced carrots<\/p>\n
My sister insists on hosting Passover every year. I get Chanukah and Rosh Hashanah if I\u2019m lucky, but she runs the seder and won\u2019t budge. She\u2019ll often make brisket or salmon, matzo ball soup, zucchini kugel, and will ask me and my sibling to bring a side and dessert. Year after year I\u2019ve made roasted carrots and matzo bark. Last year, Maple\u2013Harissa Glazed Carrots. This year, these Shawarma-Spiced Carrots With Date and Herb Salad from old BA staffer Zaynab Issa. One day\u2014if I ever do graduate to Pesach host\u2014this Roasted Salmon With Citrus Salsa Verde is sure to win a spot on my menu. \u2014Nina Moskowitz, associate editor, cooking<\/em><\/p>\n Shawarma spices aren\u2019t just for chicken and meat.<\/p>\n View Recipe<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Charoset in many forms<\/p>\n This year\u2014and every year\u2014I\u2019m excited to make charoset. I equally love the Ashkenazi version I grew up eating (chunky with chopped apples and walnuts) and the Sephardic rendition (smooth with dates and mixed nuts). But as I\u2019ve continued to riff on traditional recipes, I like to turn the apple version into a salad. I\u2019ll thinly slice apples and combine them with toasted crushed walnuts, drizzled with lemon juice and sprinkled with salt. I\u2019ve also started making the date version very stiff, so it can be rolled into little truffles\u2014they\u2019re especially good dipped in melted dark chocolate. But my favorite way to buck the charoset-tradition is actually to not make it at all. I put together a fruit and nut platter inspired by the dish, complete with dates and dried apricots, apple wedges and grapes, walnuts and pistachios, plus the store-bought macaroons and colorful jelly fruit slices my grandparents always put out during the holiday. \u2014Rebecca Firkser, Test Kitchen editor<\/em><\/p>\n Mama\u2019s matzo bark<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be a Passover without my Mom\u2019s riff on Bonnie Stern\u2019s Caramel Matzo Crunch, which we now call Mama\u2019s Matzo Bark. Since I live far away from her, I now make this when I need a little piece of home, a.k.a. this year\u2019s seder. Not only is it so easy to make, but it\u2019s also really fun to eat. Just four simple ingredients (matzo, butter, brown sugar, and chocolate chips) are what make sweet, rich toffee-like bites that make me truly crave matzo. My favorite part of this treat is making it my own: Add a sprinkle of flaky salt, crushed hazelnuts, rainbow sprinkles. It all works! \u2014Abi Lieff, assistant to the editor in chief<\/em><\/p>\n Grandma\u2019s sweet-and-sour meatballs<\/p>\n Passover is my mom\u2019s Super Bowl. She makes everything from scratch: soup, chopped liver, gefilte fish, her famous brisket, and my grandmother\u2019s sweet-and-sour meatballs (my favorite). This year, I\u2019m on meatball duty. I\u2019ll be making her tangy sauce, featuring tomato juice, brown sugar, and sauerkraut, and meatballs, made from ground beef mixed with onion, eggs, and matzo meal. They\u2019ll poach in the sauce until glistening and fork-tender. We\u2019ll serve them in my grandmother\u2019s vintage silver soup tureen, though it\u2019s hard to resist eating them straight from the pot. \u2014Emma Jacobson, contributing social media editor<\/em><\/p>\n Mom\u2019s unsinkable matzo balls<\/p>\n My mother taught me (correctly) that the ideal matzo ball is light and airy, with a cloud-like texture. Her go-to recipe is strikingly similar to Molly Baz\u2019s No-Nonsense Matzo Balls, with one exception: She ensures each ball floats to the top of the simmering liquid and stays there for the duration of cooking. Any balls that fall to the bottom suffer a miserable, dense-center fate, and that simply will not abide on Passover. We make the soup together and it\u2019s a true collab; Mom handles the balls and I tackle the broth. My specialty is a spin on Andy Baraghani’s exceptional Chicken Soup With Caramelized Ginger. Feel free to steal my tweaks: I start with a rotisserie chicken to save time, removing the meat to plunk in at the end and reserving the bones for the broth. I also triple the called-for amounts of ginger, garlic, and sugar, which gives the resulting soup a tonic-like quality. But warning, you need to really<\/em> like ginger to go this route. \u2014Rachel Tepper Paley, site director<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Shawarma](\"https:\/\/assets.bonappetit.com\/photos\/6228f16aa85ffe26186a2328\/master\/w_775%2Cc_limit\/Spice-Crusted%2520Carrots-With-Date-and-Herb-Salad.jpg\"\/)
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