A silky Greek lemon and egg soup with little herby beef and rice meatballs, Jacqui’s twist on her Yiayia’s youvarlakia.
Ingredients List
Meatballs
Avgolemono soup
Method
- Make the meatballs: combine the beef, arborio rice, grated onion, egg, grated garlic, parsley, mint, salt, pepper and olive oil in a bowl. Mix gently by hand until just combined (do not overmix, or they toughen).
- Cover and chill for 15 minutes to firm up. Roll into meatballs about the size of a ping-pong ball and dust lightly with the flour.
- Bring the chicken broth to a gentle boil in a large pot. Add the meatballs, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through and the rice inside is tender.
- Remove the meatballs from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Make the avgolemono: whisk the eggs till frothy, then add the lemon juice and the cornflour (if using) and whisk until smooth and creamy.
- Temper: slowly ladle a little of the hot broth into the egg-lemon mixture, whisking constantly, until loosened and cloudy. This stops the eggs curdling.
- Take the pot off the heat (it must never boil) and stir the egg-lemon mixture back through the soup. Warm gently on medium-low until silky and slightly thickened.
- Serve the meatballs in the lemony broth, finished with ground black pepper.
Blue Ribbon
