Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Instructions

POACH THE CHICKEN: Place the chicken in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven with the carrot, celery, leek, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper and cover with 2 litres (ca. 8 cups) of cold water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer gently for 45 minutes.
COOL AND SHRED THE CHICKEN:
When the chicken has cooked, remove it from the saucepan, allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes, then shred the meat from the bones. Discard the skin and bones and set the meat aside.
STRAIN THE STOCK: Place a sieve over a large bowl and pour the chicken stock through. Discard the solids. Give the saucepan a quick rinse, then return 1.5 litres (6 cups) of the stock to the saucepan, stir through the orzo and simmer for 10 minutes until the orzo is cooked and tender.
TEMPER THE EGGS: Meanwhile, crack the eggs into a large, heatproof bowl and whisk well with the lemon juice. While whisking, drizzle in the reserved stock, whisking all the while. Stir in the sugar.
ASSEMBLE THE SOUP: When the orzo is cooked, pour the egg and stock mixture into the pan, stirring constantly. Do not allow the mixture to boil, but heat until the soup thickens, 5-10 minutes (see note). Stir through the shredded chicken, oregano and parsley and remove from the heat.
SEASON AND SERVE: Taste and season with salt and pepper as necessary. Serve immediately with plenty of crusty bread.

Notes

NOTE: It’s often difficult to tell when something has ‘thickened’ in a recipe. In this case, the egg and lemon mixture will likely be foamy when you pour it into the pan, as you stir and the mixture thickens a little the foam will disappear and the soup is ready.

Australians! You use a larger tablespoon than all the rest of the world! One standard tablespoon is 15ml, however, in Australia it is 20ml. This makes a big difference when measuring salt, so in this recipe use 3 tsp instead.

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup

Ingredients

for the poached chicken:

for the soup:

Instructions

Notes

Nutrition