Avgolemono (Greek egg and lemon soup)

Every Greek grandmother has their own version of this classic soup and chicken dish. Ground's recipe is based on a traditional recipe (always the best) and uses our Moroccan Preserved Lemon.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole free-range chicken
  • 1 small onion (chopped)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (halved)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • sliced rind of ½ a Ground Moroccan Preserved Lemons
  • 8 tablespoons of rice
  • juice of 1 ½ to 2 lemons
  • 2 eggs
  • salt and pepper

Method

Place the chicken in a large pot with the onion, garlic, bay leaves and half of the Moroccan Preserved Lemon rind. Cover the chicken with water. Bring to the boil and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Skim the froth off occasionally as it is simmering. When the chicken can be easily pierced with a fork, it is cooked.

Remove the chicken from the stock, cut into serving size pieces and place on a serving platter then season with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Put aside to serve with the soup.

Strain the stock through a fine sieve, back into a saucepan. Throw away the onion, garlic, bay leaves and rind. Take out 3 cups of stock and set aside to cool. Put the rice and the other half of the Moroccan Preserved Lemon rind into the remaining stock and boil until the rice is cooked.

In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Pour in the lemon juice and continue beating. While still mixing, gently add the 3 cups of reserved, cooled stock (about 1 cup at a time). Pour the blended mixture into the rice and mix thoroughly. Serve the soup in bowls with the platter of chicken and crusty bread.