Greek Avgolemono Soup - with Lemon Myrtle

This lovely soup recipe has been handed down to us and 'Ahvo-lemono', as the Greeks pronounce it, is a silky, rich, fragrant chicken soup, prepared Greek-style with avgolemono sauce (lemon-egg sauce) and instead of  using all lemon in this recipe we've used beautiful fragrant and aromatic Lemon Myrtle. This comforting soup is so quick and easy to make and comes together in just over 30 minutes. 

The only tricky part of making avgolemono soup is tempering the eggs, which help to thicken the broth to a silky consistency. You simply need to add, slowly and whisking as you do, some of the hot stock to the egg and Lemon Myrtle mix  so that they don’t scramble. The process can be made easier by whizzing the eggs and lemon myrtle mix with some of the rice and broth in a blender; this tempers the eggs and creates a creamy, stable base that never curdles. 

Ingredients
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
8 cups (2 litres) cold water or to make it extra delicious use pre-prepared sto1 
1 large onion, quartered
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon Wild Herb Salt salt
11/2 cups long grain rice (like Basmati) or you could use orzo
1 cup chopped fresh warrigal greens or spinach (we used Warrigal Greens)
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon Lemon Myrtle
juice from half lemon

 Place the chicken, water/stock, onion, peppercorns, and salt in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Try to skim off any foam that appears on the surface of the stock.

Strain the broth and return the strained liquid back into a large saucepan (reserving one cup of the stock) and keep warm over a low heat. 

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let cool until it can be handled. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, use your hands to shred the meat and discard the skin and bones.

Bring the stock back to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the rice or the orzo and cook until al dente, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in the reserved shredded chicken and the chopped spinach or Warrigal Greens. Reduce the heat to low.
Make the "avgolemono" - place the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk until lightened in colour and frothy, about 2 minutes. While whisking, slowly pour in the lemon juice and the tablespoon of Lemon Myrtle. While still whisking, temper in the eggs by slowly drizzling a cup of the warm stock into the egg-lemon mixture. This warms the eggs just enough so that they do not curdle when added to the hot soup. Alternately place the eggs, Lemon Myrtle, juice of half a lemon and whizz in a blender, slowly adding the cup of stock.
Once whisked together. add the avgolemono back into the pot with the chicken and rice/orzo and stir to combine. Cook until the soup thickens slightly, 3 to 5 minutes, but do not let it come to a boil. This is such a delicious soup and perfect for the warmer months as well as the cool as it has such a tangy, citrusy flavour.
Gluten-free: To make this soup gluten-free, use white rice instead of the orzo.

 

 

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