Greek Lemon Soup with Chicken Meatballs
Why this Recipe Works: How exactly do you make a creamy, rich soup without any cream? The answer is by using an egg liaison – a mixture of egg yolks and lemon juice – as a binding agent. To avoid scrambling the eggs, we don’t add the yolk mixture directly to the hot soap; we “temper” the liaison first by slowly adding some of the hot broth to the yolk mixture and then whisking the warmed yolk mixture back into the soup. At this point, there’s a gentle simmer will both cook the yolks and thicken the soup. Whit rice can be substituted for the orzo. The mixture for the meatballs will be fairly wet and loose. To tighten the mixture up, we use panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs). We found that they absorb more moisture than regular bread crumbs do.
Ingredient:
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 pound ground chicken
1 small onion, grated(about 1 cup)
½ cup panko(Japanese-style bread crumbs)
3 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
3 large egg yolks and 1 whole egg salt and pepper
1 cup orzo
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Procedure:
- Bring broth to boil in large saucepan. Cover and set aside. Combine chicken, onion, bread crumbs, mint, dill, parsley, whole egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper together in bowl. Knead mixture until well mixed. Shape mixture into 1 inch meatballs(mixture will be soft).
- Add meatballs, orzo, and carrot to broth and bring to simmer. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until meatballs are cooked through and orzo is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Gently whisk lemon juice and yolks together in bowl. Whisking constantly, gradually ladle 1 cup hot soup into egg mixture, then stir egg mixture back into soup, again whisking constantly. Gently simmer soup on low heat until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Quick prep tip
TEMPERING THE EGGS WITH THE SOUP
Whisking constantly, pour the hot broth in a slow, steady stream into the beaten egg yolk mixture. Once the broth is fully incorporated, slowly pour the warm egg yolk mixture back into the soup, again whisking constantly. Bring the soup back to a gentle simmer and cook until the soup is slightly thickened.
