Giouvarlakia Avgolemono Soup (aka Greek Meatball Lemon-Egg Soup)

A lot of you are probably aware of the famous Greek lemon-egg chicken soup with rice, kotosoupa avgolemono, but are you familiar with another lemon-egg soup that is popular to make in Greece? It’s a meatball and rice lemon egg soup and it is just as delicious…AND…perfect on a cold winter day, as today, in the Midwest.

Traditionally it’s made with ground beef, but you can use ground chicken, or even ground pork or turkey, if you prefer. Pork goes wonderfully with the egg-lemon flavor, as a matter of fact there is another dish we make with the same sauce but with pork chunks or ribs and celery. Today I am making it with ground chicken, since that is what I have in my frig 🙂 . For the rice, you can use long grain or even basmati if you like that flavor better. If you use brown rice you will need to bowl the meatballs more, which may break them down…so pre-boil brown rice half way first and cool before adding to meat mixture if you prefer to use brown.

Oh, the smell when you mix the meat with the herbs and spices is sooo good. Dill is one of my favorite herbs. Some people may add parsley and/or mint to it too, but I like it with the dill only. Another version is instead of the egg and lemon juice to use yogurt with lemon juice. If you prefer this route then mix about 1 cup of Greek yogurt with the lemon juice and stir into broth.

The ingredients are simple. You just need:

• 1 pound ground beef, chicken or pork
• 1 medium onion, grated on larger grate or finely diced
• 1/2 cup white rice, reserving 2 tablespoons to the side
• 2 tablespoons olive oil and some for the bottom of pot
• 4 tablespoons chopped dill (and a few sprigs for garnish)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/3 cup flour, for coating meatballs
• 4 1/2 to 5 cups chicken broth and/or water (enough to cover meatballs)
• 1 large carrot, diced or sliced
• 1 1/2 to 2 lemons, juiced (1/3 cup worth of juice) and zested
• 2 large eggs, room temperature

Steps:

1. Add ground meat, onion, most of rice (other than 2 tablespoons), 2 tablespoons of olive oil, chopped dill, salt and pepper to a mixing bowl and combine well.
2. Roll mixture into approximately one+ inch balls, about 28-32 balls.
3. Lightly coat meatballs in flour and gently place into pot that has been drizzled with olive oil. The flour helps to thicken the sauce and keeps the meatballs together. Discard the excess flour.
4. Gently pour the broth/water onto meatballs just enough to cover them and add in lemon zest.
5. Bring to a boil, then add reserved 2 tablespoons of rice and diced/sliced carrot and turn heat down to low and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Do not over cook, otherwise the meatballs may begin to break.
6. Turn off heat on meatballs and whisk your eggs well, until they are somewhat frothy, and then slowly add the lemon juice while you continue to whisk. Slowly temper the egg-lemon mixture by whisking in 2-3 ladles of the warm broth then pour the mixture into the pot and wiggle pot around to combine everything.
7. Turn on heat to medium-low and bring back to a simmer for a few minutes and then it’s done.
8. Add to bowl and garnish with a dill sprig and 2 extra lemon wedges. Serve with feta cheese (or any cheese if you don’t have feta 🙂 ) and crusty bread to soak up all those wonderful juices!

Kali Orexi!

Yummy, enjoy!