Dishing Sisters

Avgolemono…It’s all Greek to me!

Recently a co-worker inspired me when she started talking about a soup that we occasionally get at a terrific little deli down the street. She has a daughter that is gluten intolerant and learned that not only is the soup easy and tasty, it’s also gluten-free…BONUS!

Avgolemono (Ahv-go-lim-oh-no) is of Greek origin and means egg lemon. The modern Greek definition of the word is a soup made with beaten eggs, lemon and chicken broth. Well if you throw a few more interesting ingredients in, you have one dandy-delicious bowl of goodness!

Avgolemono Soup

2 cups milk

2 Tbs cornstarch

6 egg yolks, beaten

2 qt chicken stock

1/2 cup finely diced onion

2 tsp dried parsley

1 Tbs dried thyme

1/2 cup rice (NOT instant)

2 cups diced leftover chicken or turkey (fully cooked)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1 tsp. grated lemon zest (peel)

S & P

In a bowl, stir the milk and the cornstarch together – mix thoroughly. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Set aside.

Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot. Add the parsley, thyme and onion and simmer 10-15 minutes. Add the rice, cover and continue cooking for about 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender. Add the diced chicken and remove from heat.

Take about 1 cup of the hot soup mixture and slowly whisk it into the egg/milk mixture, stirring continuously. (This will “temper” the egg mixture before adding it to the soup, avoiding the eggs to scramble!)  Add one more cup of soup to the egg mixture, then slowly pour the entire egg mixture back into the soup pot, whisking until completely added. Add the lemon juice, zest, butter and season with S & P. Turn the heat back on to low, making sure NOT TO BOIL the soup (or the eggs may curdle the broth), but to let it slowly simmer for about 5 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken.

Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

This soup cannot be frozen, but will keep in the frig for about 5 days (and reheats nicely!).

Posted in Soup's On!
Tagged avgolemono, Chicken, egg, gluten-free, Greek, lemon, soup


 Print Recipe