Passover Mushroom Muffins

My step mother-in-law Granny Laura Dean taught me this recipe for Pesach.  She has since passed away but she was always a wonderful grandmother to my children and a great cook and entertainer.

These little dumplings bake in the oven in muffin tins.  The original recipe, made with chicken schmaltz, tasted incredible.  I make them with olive oil to take away a few calories.  They are crispy on the outside, light and fluffy inside with bits of melt in your mouth mushroom and onion.  Granny always put plates of felichikas down the Seder table to pass around as an extra side goodie to the main entre’, which she served plated.

1 box matzo farfel ^[1]

1 quart or more of boiling water

6 eggs

3 onions

1 pound white mushrooms

5 stalks of celery

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

In a large bowl, cover the farfel with boiling water until soft and then drain very well. Squeeze the excess water out with y our hands.  Set the farfel aside.  Finely dice the onions.  Clean the mushrooms and thinly slice.  Finely dice the celery.  Preheat a large sauté pan.  When the pan is hot, add two tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the onions, mushrooms, and celery until they are barely starting to brown.  Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.  ^[2]

In a large bowl, whisk the 6 eggs until foamy.  Add in the drained and squeezed farfel and the vegetable mix.  Mix with a spoon to combine and season with salt and pepper.  Put a ½ teaspoon of olive oil in each cup of three 12 cup muffin tins.  I use the non-stick ones.  You could use aluminum foil throw away tins if you like.  Using a spoon, fill greased muffin tins almost to the top with the farfel batter and bake in a 350º oven for about 1 hour or until the felichikas are puffed up and the tops are golden and crunchy.  ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]}

This makes about 36.  They reheat well.