Matzah Brei with eggwhites and shitake

Matzah Brei, מצה ברייט‎, matzah breit, or מצה מטוגנת, matzah metugenet..., is an egg dish popular during Passover. It is basically eggs cooked with matzoh crackers in it. 
    
When I first made Matzah Brei (a million years ago), I carefully followed a recipe from some Jewish cookbook and used the (required) butter and regular matzah. The extra step of soaking the matzah in water was overkill and made the eggs super soggy (and ugly) and I just couldn't get used to the boring texture. The butter was overpowering and the heavy richness was totally unnecessary. So, I've adjusted it a tad... Shmurah matzah adds a wonderful dense texture and nutty flavor. Eggwhites (versus scramble yolk) add a distinct silky bite and gorgeous color against the other ingredients. Olive oil rules. (Remember to use a splatter screen for all the popping!)

I've experimented with all sorts of combos and this is my favorite interpretation of matzah brei, which ultimately includes my fave ingredients (and the items I keep stocked 24-7): garlic, mushroom and tomato.

**Lisa's Matzah Brei**

 3 eggs, separated for eggwhites (throw away the yolk)

piece of shmurah matzoh (or reg square matzoh), size of an index card

1 small tomato

2 large mushrooms, any variety

olive oil, enough to coat the pan

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

(1) If you haven't already, separate your eggs, keeping only the eggwhites. (Throw the yolks away or save for gnocchi recipe!) Cut up the mushrooms and tomato into small bite-size pieces and mince your garlic. Break up the matzoh into little bits and soak them in the eggwhites (instead of soaking them in water at all). 

(2) Heat a pan on high with olive oil and add the mushrooms. Turn them when they are golden on one side. Omg, get set for heavenly chewiness:)

(3) When the mushrooms are golden crispy looking, add immediately the garlic and tomato. Add some salt and pepper. This already (NOW, after adding the salt & pepper) is a perfect side dish with a glass of red. If you can resist eating it right out of the pan, continue with the egg recipe.

(4) Next, add the eggwhite matzoh mixture and move the mixture around so to cover the most surface area of the pan. Spread it out. (Careful with popping oil...use splatter screen!)

(5) Break up the egg mixture into smaller pieces to flip over to cook the other side and add the sesame seeds.

(6) Add some more salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a plate. DONE!