Greek Lemon Chicken Soup "Avgolemono"
I used to work in Soho, NYC and as soon as a winter bite set in the air I would frequent this teeny, tiny, cozy Greek restaurant for their Avgolemono because it was heart- warming-ly addictive. This soup just feels nourishing.. after all with broth that is infused with egg and lemon...it is the "Liquid Penicillin" cure-all for cold season. Its so damn simple and so, so good. In fact it's probably the easiest chicken soup I make and one of my favourites. Typically this is served with rice but I prefer orzo and sometimes I throw in some spinach too. Next time you feel like curbing the winter chill, look no further this is the soup for you.
Yield: 4
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo, Egg and Dill "Avgolemono"
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 1 H & 45 MTotal time: 1 H & 50 M
This is the cure all chicken soup
Ingredients
- One whole chicken
- One large red onion quartered
- Salt and pepper
- 2 large eggs1 lemon juiced plus more lemon for serving
- 1-2 cups (250-500 grams) orzo
- Dill to garnish
Instructions
- Put the chicken whole in a pot and cover with cold water. Add salt ( about 1/2 tbspn) and the onion and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cover.
- Cook for 1 1/2 hours.
- Skim any scum off top if necessary.
- Turn the heat off, take chicken out and when it's cool enough take the meat off and shred into chunks.
- Cook orzo until al dente separately and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and lemon together until frothy then add a ladle of soup to incorporate ( soup should not be boiling just hot) add a second ladle and whisk then mix it back into your broth and let sit for a few minutes.
- Heat the broth back up ( again don't boil it)
- Layer your serving bowl, orzo, chicken then top with broth, dill, salt and pepper to taste and ( if you're a lemon lover like me) more freshly squeezed lemon.