Recipe #61 - Avgolemono Soup

This is by no means an original recipe. After all, the Greeks have been making variations of this soup for centuries. But this is our version of a classic.

Previously, we published a recipe for avgolemono pasta with veggies. But this is a more traditional avgolemono as a soup, with the base of eggs, lemon and rice.

Try it with a greek salad (easy to make with kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, greens, feta cheese and a lemon-feta-olive oil dressing) and some warm ciabatta bread.

1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
4 egg yolks
6 cups rich vegetable stock
1/2 cup long grain white rice
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup frish lemon juice
Zest of 1 fresh lemon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Stir the milk and cornstarch together. Whisk in the egg yolks until well beaten and mixed with the milk-cornstarch.

Put the veggie stock in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the rice and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes.

Using a soup ladle, put 1/2 cup of hot broth into the egg-milk mixture, whisking the entire time. Add a few more ladles of broth, continually whisking.

Pour the egg-milk mixture into the broth pot very slowly, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low simmer and add the butter, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Warm over very low heat.

Serve with salad and bread. A good wine match would be a soft chilled rose or pinot grigio.