With colder weather arriving eventually, this month’s recipe is a soup from Greece. Well, sort of. Although Avgolemono is considered a Greek dish, this soup is actually a Greco-Turkish-Arab dish that was spread mainly by Sephardic Jews, who brought lemons from Southern Europe to Italy then to Greece in about the early 1000 A.D. According to Claudia Roden, the Sephardic version of this soup, known as sopa de huevos y limon (egg and lemon soup), is the traditional way to break the Yom Kippur fast for Jews from Turkey, the Greek port city of Thessaloniki (known as Salonika in Ladino), and the Balkan states.
Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice
Time to Make: 30 minutes. Serves 6
Ingredients:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped green onions
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2 cups rice
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
16 oz or more of the meat from a rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 large eggs
Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
In a large soup pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium-high. Add the carrots, celery and green onions, toss together to saute briefly then stir in the garlic.
- Add the chicken broth and bay leaves then raise the heat to high. Once the liquid has come to a rolling boil, add the rice, salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender.
- Stir in the cooked chicken and remove the bay leaves.
- When creating the Avegolemono sauce, be sure to temper it to prevent the eggs from curdling. To do this, you’ll need to whisk two eggs with 1/2 cup of lemon, and while whisking with one hand, slowly pour in two ladles of the hot chicken broth from your soup.
- Transfer 1 cup of the hot soup stock to a blender. Add 1/2 cup of the rice and blend until smooth. Add back to the pot of soup and stir well to mix. Add the Avegolemono sauce to the pot and stir. Immediately remove the soup from heat.
- Stir in the dill and serve. If you like a more lemony flavor, add more lemon juice to taste. Top with parsley if preferred.
- Serve with crusty French or Italian bread.