Mireille makes her mother’s recipe for harroset every Passover. “It looks like mud but it is sweet and delicious,” she says. “You must try it.”

Ingredients

• 1 pound pitted dates
• 1-15 oz. box dark raisins
• 1-1/2 cups warm water
• 1/2 -cup sweet kosher wine
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons matzo meal
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Soak raisins and dates in warm water for 30 minutes. Pour the fruit, and all of the liquid, into a medium-sized pot. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, and continue to cook until all the liquid evaporates and turns to mush.
2. Transfer fruit paste to a blender and puree (or use an immersion blender to puree the mixture in the pot). Return mixture to pot and stir in wine and matzo meal. Cook over low heat until smooth, approximately 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. When cool, stir in chopped nuts and serve.
4. Harosset may be kept, refrigerated in a sealed container, for 3 days. Let reach room temperature before serving.

Note: Mireille recommends using a wooden spoon to continuously stir the mixture so that it won’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.  If the mixture is coarse after the last 30 minutes of cooking, add a little more water and continue to cook and stir until smooth.