Instructions: 1. Heat vegetable oil in large, heavy saucepan. Add onions and saute over medium-low heat, stirring often, 7 minutes or until soft but not brown.

2. Add carrots, 4 cups broth, rice, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 30 minutes or until carrots and rice are very tender. Discard bay leaf. Let soup cool 5 minutes.

3. Pour the soup into a blender and puree until very smooth. Return to saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring often.

4. Add about 1 1/4 cups broth, or enough to bring soup to desired consistency. Bring to a boil, stirring. Taste and adjust seasoning; add pinch of sugar if de sired. (Soup can be kept, covered, 2 days in refrigerator; reheat over medium-low heat, stirring, before serving.)

5. To make the matzo balls, chop the parsley in a food processor. Combine the eggs, vegetable oil and salt in a bowl. Lightly beat until blended. Add matzo meal and beat until batter is well blended. Beat in water, then the chopped parsley. Transfer the batter to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

6. Bring about 2 quarts of salted water to a boil in a large saucepan. With wet hands, take about 1 teaspoon matzo-ball mixture and roll it between your palms to a ball; mixture will be soft. Set balls on a plate.

7. Reduce heat so water simmers. With a rubber spatula, carefully slide balls 1 by 1 into the simmering water. Cover and simmer over low heat about 30 minutes or until matzo balls are firm. Cover and keep them warm until ready to serve.

Presentation: When serving soup, use a slotted spoon to add 3-6 matzo balls to each bowl.

Yield: 6 servings

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