Creamy and comforting, Avgolemono is a traditional Greek soup flavoured with egg and lemon. This version uses orzo – pasta rice – and shredded chicken to further enrich the soup.
Make the chicken broth base from scratch or use chicken breast fillet poached in readymade chicken stock.
Prep time: 10 mins /Cook time: 30 mins excl. stock /Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
For the stock
1x 1kg whole chicken
– 4 litres water
– 1 brown onion, peeled
– 1 head celery, including leaves
– 10 black peppercorns
– 1 bay leaf, optional
– 10ml sea salt
For the soup
– 4 leeks, rinsed and thinly sliced
– Olive oil
– 2 litres chicken stock (recipe above or readymade)
– 3 large lemons
– 125ml orzo, uncooked
– 5ml sea salt
– 3 large eggs
– 2ml cayenne pepper
– 100ml fresh dill, finely chopped
If making the chicken stock, add all the ingredients into a large pot and submerge with the water. Set the pot over medium to low heat to simmer for an hour or until the chicken is tender. Once tender, remove the chicken from the pot and shred, discarding any skin and bones. Retain the shredded meat and strain the broth. Set aside until needed.
For the soup, use a large pot and sauté the leeks in a little olive oil until just soft. Do not let them brown. Once soft, pour over the chicken stock and add the peel (use a potato peeler for long strips) of one lemon. Bring the broth to the boil and add in the orzo and salt. Cook for 15 minutes and then remove the lemon peel.
Juice the lemons and add the liquid to a jug with the eggs and cayenne pepper. Whisk the mixture together briskly and gradually pour in 100ml of the hot broth, followed by another 100ml. Gradually add the egg mixture into the soup, whisking to combine. Add the shredded chicken and cook the soup for an additional 3-4 minutes until warmed through. Season to taste and add in the chopped dill.
Serve the avgolemono with toasted bread and extra dill scattered over the top of each bowl.