This soup brings back wonderful memories for me. I had a Greek friend who sadly passed away 16 years ago. Although she was my then Greek partners mother, we spend many evenings in the kitchen talking whilst she would be cooking and showing me her little secrets to authentic home cooked Greek food.
Yesterday I went through my recipes to get some order and came across a little handwritten notebook that I used during these evening sessions. I have learned so much from her and being the giving person she was, I am sure that she would not mind me sharing this recipe with you, enjoy!!
You’ll need
- 3 Tbsp x olive oil
- 2 x large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 x celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 1 x white onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup x short-grain rice
- 2,5lt x chicken stock or broth
- 2 cups x chicken breast, cooked and shredded
- 4 Tbsp Butter
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 4 eggs
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and white pepper for seasoning
Method
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat.
- Add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until soft.
- Increase heat to medium high, add the rice and cook for a minute.
- Stir in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice and carrots are cooked.
- Stir in the chicken and remove from heat.
- In a small heavy based saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour, until smooth.
- Slowly add 3 cups of the broth mixture, and cook (stirring constantly) until slightly thickened, then remove from heat.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs until they are foamy.
- Slowly beat the lemon juice and the thickened broth into the soup.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Then slowly add the egg mixture, constantly stirring so the eggs do not 'split'.
- Re-heat the soup over medium heat until it thickens a bit, but do not return to a boil as this will curdle the eggs.
I personally like a heavy pepper taste in this soup and use at least 1 ½ tsp and add freshly ground black pepper with a drizzle of olive oil on top for serving. I find the peppery taste works well with the lemon in this soup.