When Grandma made chicken soup, the scent slipped out from under the door of her apartment over “the store,” and rushed down the stairs to greet me the moment I opened the door to the stairwell. Yes, it filled me with excitement for the deliciousness that waited ahead, but it was so much more than that. I felt safe, protected. I felt loved. I felt like a part of something that was bigger than myself. Chicken soup on the stove usually meant a holiday was coming. It meant aunts and uncles and cousins, fancy clothes—it wasn’t just soup; it was a life experience.

It’s important to me to carry that tradition, that feeling, forward, creating those sorts of memories for my own grandchildren. But to do so is tricky, because my grandchildren and their parents are vegetarian, which crosses so many of the special holiday dishes that I remember and love, off the list.

I choose to eat vegetarian often , for reasons that are both health related and out of a desire to live gently, but when holidays come around, I crave the foods that I associate with them. Not so for my strictly vegetarian kids. And so, I’ve made it my mission to find ways to turn these classic family recipes into vegetarian-friendly ones.

It’s hard to develop a chicken-y vegetarian soup that has enough flavor to proudly stand next to a pot of grandma’s chicken soup. There are a few tricks to help make that happen. To make chicken soup, I toss all the ingredients in the pot at once, with water and chicken, and let it simmer for hours. Doing the same thing sans chicken is not super flavorful, so I alter the method. I cut up the vegetables and aromatics and sauté them in a rich-tasting oil, such as hazelnut or walnut, until they’ve begun to caramelize. (In a pinch, you could use a good olive oil.) Once the vegetables have begun to brown and release their sugars, I add the liquid, the dried mushrooms, more onions, the rest of the garlic, and the herbs. Choice of vegetable stock is an important one—many are made with tomato and other flavors that are the wrong taste for Jewish chicken soup. Then, I let it simmer until every drop of flavor has left the vegetables and gone into the broth.

So let’s get going and make a vegetarian soup that’s worthy of Grandma’s Matzo Balls. Because, what’s Jewish Chicken Soup without Matzo Balls?

Vegetarian Jewish style Not‑Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil—hazelnut or walnut add flavor; EV olive oil is good, too

• 6 ounce white or brown mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced

• 1 ounce dried mushrooms

• 6 cloves garlic, 4 peeled and smashed, two chopped

• 12 cups vegetable or no-chicken stock, or water and bullion according to package directions

• 4 medium onions, sliced

• 6 medium carrots, sliced into coins

• 2 stalks celery, trimmed and sliced

• 1 small parsnip, peeled, trimmed and sliced into coins

• A handful of fresh flat leaf parsley

• A few fresh dill fronds, plus more for serving

• 1 bay leaf

• a teaspoon of sugar

• A small handful, say 10, black peppercorns

• kosher salt to taste

Method:

• Warm the oil in a stock pot over medium-high heat.

• Add 2 of the onions, the carrots, the celery, the parsnip, and the mushrooms, and sauté until the onions and mushrooms are beginning to brown.

• Add the chopped garlic and sauté another minute or so.

• Pour the water into the pot and add the stock or stock concentrate and water, the rest of the onions, peppercorns, sugar, and herbs, and bring the pot to a gentle boil.

• Lower the heat and simmer for about an hour.

• Taste, and adjust salt the flavors. Different brands of commercial stock differ in taste and seasonings. You might need to add more salt or even more sugar, if your stock is tart.

• Simmer the soup for another hour to get every drop of goodness out of the vegetables. Then taste it again. If the broth tastes weak, let it cook down a bit more. Add the rest of the garlic about 15 minutes before the soup is done.

• Allow the soup to cool somewhat, and then strain, pushing gently on the solids to thicken the broth. This will give you a less-than-perfectly-clear soup, but it adds flavor. You can skip this “pushing” if you want a very clear broth. If you want to serve vegetables in the soup, I recommend adding new carrots etc to the broth and cooking it further until the new vegetables are tender. The ones that you used in making the soup will probably have no flavor left in them.

The broth can be made 1 to 2 days in advance, and refrigerated, covered. It can also be made further in advance and frozen.

To Serve:

Bring the soup to a simmer and add matzo balls and/or fine noodles. Simmer until the soup is hot, noodles are cooked, and the matzo balls are heated through.

Ladle into bowls and top each one with some freshly chopped dill.

Variation: To make egg drop soup, beat an egg (or more) in a small bowl until frothy. Stir the simmering soup to create a vortex, then tip the egg from the bowl into the vortex, while continuing to stir.