Avgolemono (ahhv-go-LEH-mo-no; avgo is egg, and lemono is lemon) is Greek chicken soup, but you don’t need chicken to make it! Its simple combination of a few basic ingredients creates a deep well of comfort to satisfy your senses and soothe your soul. Even though avgolemono is about as simple as it gets, it’s an elegant recipe whose brilliance comes as much from the technique as the ingredients. As usual, the better the quality of the ingredients, the better the finished product. Also, you don’t have to use arborio rice, but it does confer a particular creamy texture that other kinds of rice do not.
Ingredients
- 10 cups vegetable (or chicken) stock
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 5 eggs
- juice of 3 medium lemons
- 2 cups shredded chicken (optional)
- 1 Tbsp. salt
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Bring stock to a boil over high heat and add rice.
- Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring often.
- Meanwhile, whisk together eggs and lemon juice in a bowl until frothy.
- While whisking, temper the contents of the bowl by slowly adding 4-5 ladles of soup, one ladleful at a time, to the egg and lemon juice.
- Stir the egg and lemon juice mixture into the stock.
- Add shredded chicken (optional) and cook a few minutes more to warm through.
- Season with fresh ground pepper.
- Serve with lemon wedges for extra flavor as desired. Serves 6.
Many thanks to ful-filled for the original version of this recipe, which is traditionally eaten for breakfast.