All Time Avgolemono Soup

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium pot and sauté the onions over medium-high heat until they are soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. While the onions are cooking, bring another pot of salted water to a boil and add the orzo or rice.

When the onions are ready, add the chicken stock and water and bring to a bare simmer. When the orzo or rice is nearly done — firm, but mostly cooked — drain the boiling water and add the pasta or rice to the chicken broth. Add the diced chicken breast to the pot. Let this cook 5 to 8 minutes, then taste the soup for salt.

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Whisking constantly, add the lemon juice to the eggs. You will need to temper the eggs before you add the egg-lemon mixture to the soup. It takes both hands to do this. With one hand, whisk the egg-lemon mixture vigorously. With the other, slowly pour in a ladle's worth of hot broth. Do this at least twice, and you can add as many ladle's worth of broth as you want to the mixture.

Turn the heat off the soup. Whisk the soup with one hand while you pour the hot egg-lemon mixture in with the other. Serve at once, garnished with parsley.

Note:

Either rice or orzo pasta are fine here, so use whichever you prefer. And be sure to dice the chicken breast pretty small -- about ¼ inch cubes -- so the meat cooks through in just a few minutes.

Recipe from Hank Shaw of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook