Using Your Pasta Machine For Making Matzah

Before and during the Feast of Unleavened Bread I find my time can run short as we try to cook meals AND have plenty of unleavened bread for each day. I love shortcuts and a couple of years ago, I was SO tired of using my rolling pins. I have two kinds – the heavy marble one and a smaller one that is great for one-handed rolling of dough. Both work great - and a great work out, but both can get tiresome around day three!

 
Since scripture does say that we are to eat unleavened bread each day for seven days (Exodus 12:15; 13:6), we also get tired of eating matzah every single day. My husband and I enjoy the wonderful flavors of Yahweh’s blessed spices and herbs, so I started going through all of my normal recipes for flat breads to see if I could find other things to eat during the feast. EASY flat breads.

I found a number. One of our favorites happens to be my whole wheat cracker recipe which I made for our freshly ground whole wheat flour. We enjoy them as Rosemary-garlic, onion, Mexican spiced, toasted onion, dill, and sometimes just plain garlic – we do tend to eat a LOT of garlic! We also enjoy them as parmesan crackers AND sprinkled with finely shredded cheddar cheese, too. It is a very versatile recipe and can be eaten so many different ways.

The most difficult part though, was coming up with a way to make them easy-peasy! With tired arms I started looking around the kitchen to find a better way to flatten this dough to cracker-thickness. The meat mallet just was not an option. That is when I saw it – THE PASTA MACHINE!!!!!  I took a dollop of dough, ran it through and the rest is history! It was quick, easy, and made the perfect thickness for even baking that I just cannot get with rolling pins - no matter how hard I tried. Since then I have been using my pasta machine to roll them out throughout the year. We even use crackers now for light meals in summer - chicken or tuna salad on crackers is delicious and less filling on hot days.

To use your pasta machine, you want your dough to be similar consitancy to pasta dough, not too dry and not too soft. You may need to play with the amount of flour just a bit to make sure that it does not stick in and on the machine rollers.
 
Take a small piece of dough, about the size of a golf ball, or just a touch larger. Flatten it a bit as you would your pasta dough, and process just like you do pasta!
 
A few helpful hints:

I have my baking pans ready. I roll my dough into longer, thinner strips the length of my baking sheets. I can usually get about 3 strips of flattened dough onto one baking sheet, then I cut them with the pizza roller. When the baking sheet is “full” of crackers, I bake according to recipe instructions!

For my pasta machine, I have to start with the rollers on “1” – which is the widest setting, and work my way down to 4 or 5. I cannot go to “6” because it is too thin and I find it tends to burn the crackers more easily while baking. You may need to play with this for your machine to see what thickness you tend to prefer.
 
I will say, most people who try our plain whole wheat crackers think they taste just like that national brand that is now almost $5 a box in our local stores! Especially when we use real butter instead of oil.
 
I hope you enjoy them as much as we do and that they help you create great variety and new ideas for your Feast!

Shalom!
 
 
P.S. Almost forgot: They also taste great dusted with cinnamon-sugar and spread with cream cheese, OR use any one of the herbed recipes dipped in humus or Baba ghanoush!!!
 

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