Avgolemono Soup – Traditional Recipe

Avgolemono soup is a traditional Greek favorite. It is a simple soup made up of stock, egg yollks, lemon juice and rice. We've added some additional ingredients in our version to enhance both the texture and taste of the basic recipe. Be sure to temper the egg mixture before adding it to the soup our you could wind up with scrambled eggs in the soup. Hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup long grain rice
1/4 cup chopped mint, or other herbs of your choice
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 qt. chicken stock
1/4 stick of butter
Salt and Pepper to taste.

I recommend cooking the rice for any rice soup separately from the other ingredients. It provides two advantages. Firstly is assures that the rice won't overcook in the soup. Secondly it makes it easy to store or freeze the soup (without the rice) for later use. So start by cooking the rice until tender in a small sauce pan. Next mix the cornstarch with the milk and add the beaten egg yolks. Be sure the milk is cold so you get a smooth thickening agent. Next bring the stock to a boil. Temper the milk and egg mixture by pouring a little of the hot stock into it and stirring before finally adding everything back into the stock. This will prevent the egg yolks from curdling. Then add the butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, rice and herbs. Cook for a minute or so and serve. Serves 4 to 6.