Recipe: Avgolemono – “Greek Lemon Soup”

• 4 quarts of homemade chicken stock or store-bought chicken broth
• 2 bone in skin on split chicken breasts
• 2 cups of orzo
• 5 eggs
• 5 lemons
• Liokareas Lemon olive oil
• fresh dill (optional)
• salt and pepper

Place chicken breasts and stock/broth in a large stock pot and bring to a simmer. Keep at a bare simmer until the chicken breasts reach 165 and are fully cooked. Remove chicken and let cool. Pull apart chicken and set aside. Strain fat from the remaining stock and return to the pot on stove top. Bring stock to a boil and cook orzo until al dente. While orzo is cooking place the lemons and eggs in a large bowl. Using a whisk or immersion blender, blend the mixture until frothy. Once the orzo is done, turn heat off. 

Next, you need to temper the eggs so that they don’t cook! Ladle one scoop of the broth into the egg/lemon mixture while vigorously whisking or using the hand blender making the mixture nice and frothy. Continue to do this, one ladle at a time, until you’ve placed about 1/3 of the soup into the egg/lemon mixture. Then pour the egg/lemon mixture into the pot. Let soup sit for a few minutes as it will thicken. If soup is not thick enough or lemony enough, you may temper in an-other egg or add more lemon. Salt and pepper to taste. Add shredded chicken to the pot. Top each bowl with a bit of Liokareas Lemon Olive Oil, dill, and fresh ground pepper.