Greek Egg and Lemon Soup 

Ingredients

Serves 9

Meat

• 1 whole organic chicken 

Produce

• 1 Dill or oregano, Fresh

• 1/2 Lemon, medium

• 1 Yellow onion, large

• 3 large organic carrots 

Refrigerated

• 4 Eggs, large

Condiments

• 1/4 cup Lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Pasta & Grains

• 1/2 cup Orzo, dried or quinoa 

Baking & Spices

• 1 Black pepper, Freshly ground

• 1 tbsp Kosher sea salt

• 2 tbsp Peppercorns, whole black

Liquids

• 8 cups Water

Instructions

1. Cook chicken and make stock: Place the chicken, water, onion, peppercorns, and salt in a 5-quart or larger Dutch oven. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If any white foam forms, use a slotted spoon to skim off and discard.

2. Strain the broth: Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh strainer set over a large heatproof bowl and discard the solids. If there is an abundance of fat rendered from the chicken thighs, skim it off it with a spoon or use fat separator. Reserve 2 cups of the stock in a measuring cup. Return the remaining stock to the Dutch oven and place over low heat to keep warm.

3. Shred the chicken: When the chicken is cool enough to handle, take the meat off of the bone and use your fingers to shred into bite-sized pieces; set aside. Discard the skin and bones.

4. Cook the orzo in the broth: Bring the stock to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the orzo and cook until al dente, 7 to 9 minutes. Stir in the reserved shredded chicken. Reduce the heat to low.

5. Make the avgolemono: Place the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk until lightened in color and frothy, about 2 minutes. Continue to whisk while gradually adding the lemon juice. While constantly whisking, temper in the eggs by slowly drizzling the reserved 2 cups of 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.

6. Thicken the soup: Add the avgolemono back into the pot with the chicken and orzo and stir to combine. Cook until the soup thickens slightly, 3 to 5 minutes, but do not let it come to a boil.

7. Serve the soup: Pour the soup into serving bowls and serve with lemon slices, fresh chopped dill or oregano, and freshly ground black pepper