Ashira Ungar always had a hard time celebrating Passover. As a convert, she didn’t grow up Jewish, and she didn’t have any family recipes or traditions to draw inspiration from. When she got married to her husband, a vegetarian, both of them would eat cheese and matzah or overly processed foods for the entire eight days.
“I found myself spending a lot of money to buy premade foods that were really unhealthy and didn’t taste very good,” Ungar said. “Food is an important part of Jewish celebrations, so I really wanted to make the overall experience of the holiday more joyful.”
Ungar loves cooking, so she set out to make the holiday – and food – more enjoyable by creating her own Passover recipes. Now, she’s compiled them in a new cookbook, “Unleavened: The Ultimate Pesach Cookbook.”
Ungar’s husband, Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, took high-quality photos of the recipes, which are divided into dips and “bready” delights, soups, salads, fish, entrees, quinoa bowls, sauces and staples, accompaniments and sweets. They include wild mushroom soup, gnocchi, Tex-Mex kale chicken salad, hamburger stroganoff, Shakshuka-touille and Pesach “bread.” None of the recipes have matzah or matzah meal in them, making them non-gebrochts. The entire collection is gluten-free as well.
“You can have the best food of the year at Pesach,” said Ungar. “You don’t have to settle for ‘tolerable.’ Pesach food can be delicious and healthy.”
Ungar, whose mother is from Finland, grew up with a lot of Nordic cuisine, and loved eating the food her mother would make for elaborate dinner parties. She also traveled all around the world and learned about a wide variety of cuisines. When she became interested in Judaism and started keeping kosher, there was a huge learning curve.
“It felt like I was eliminating so many culinary options in my life,” Ungar said. “But I learned that I could bring all of these foods with me into the Jewish world. I’d just have to learn to make them for myself and modify as needed. Over the years, I have learned to make almost anything kosher. It just takes some creativity and a willingness to think outside the box a bit.”
By creating “Unleavened,” Ungar is striving to change the way people think about Passover cuisine, and show them that it can be just as delicious as any other food.
“When I ask people what they think about the food at Pesach, nearly everyone’s initial reaction includes a bit of a grimace,” she said. “That really bothered me. But after spending years working on these recipes, I can now legitimately say that the food I serve at Pesach is some of the best stuff I cook all year.”
Pesach Bread (or Loaf) from “Unleavened”
By Ashira Ungar
The dream of baking something that I could use to approximate a sandwich over Pesach is what launched my deep dive into chametz-free cuisine. I know people who don’t even like to use the term “bread” over the holiday, so I also call this “Pesach Loaf.” Out of an abundance of caution, I consulted with multiple rabbeim about whether this recipe was acceptable, and without exception I was given their blessings.
1 cup almond butter
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey
½ tsp salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Non-stick cooking spray for pan
A 8x4x2” bread pan
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine almond butter and eggs in a medium bowl and mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth.
Coat a small bread pan with non-stick cooking spray and pour batter into pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing.
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