Chicken Avgolemono With Vegetables and Kritharaki

This post is about Avgolemono – a compound word in Greek meaning egg/lemon and we use it to make thick lemony sauces or to finish off a soup. The classic Chicken Avgolemono is the most familiar and here, I am basically making a chicken noodle soup with a couple of Greek twists.

First, I am using ” target=”_blank”>Kritharaki, looks barley (krithari) and that’s how it gets its name. Your local Greek market will carry it and quite often I’ve found it sold in the international aisle at the supermarket.

The other twist is the Avgolemono – making the soup thick, lemony and if you thought chicken soup was comforting and good for the soul, then you’re in for a real treat when you try this soup!

I used homemade chicken stock and pulled the meat off the bones to add to the soup. If you have time, do the same.

Chicken Avgolemono With Vegetables and Kritharaki

(serves 10-12)

12-14 cups of hot chicken stock

2-3 cups of cooked chicken meat (I pick off the meat from carcass used to make stock)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 head of broccoli, cut into florets then quartered

1 cup of trimmed and chopped green beans

1/2 cup of kritharaki (or orzo)

Avgolemono

2 large eggs

juice of one lemon

1. Into a large pot, add your olive, onions, carrots, celery and parsley and turn the heat to medium and cover. Allow the vegetables to sweat for 15 minutes. Now add the hot stock, bring up to a boil and the lower to simmer, cooked for 30 minutes.
2. Now add the broccoli, beans and kritharaki and simmer for another 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, crack your eggs into a medium bowl and add the lemon juice, whisk until incorporated. Set Aside.
4. Once your pasta has cooked, take off the heat, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and make your Avgolemono: while whisking the egg/lemon mixture, slowly pour 4-5 ladles of hot liquid from soup then slowly poured tempered egg/lemon mixture back into soup.
5. Stir, allow to set for 5 minutes, serve.

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© 2014, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved.