Name: Chicken soup with egg & lemon sauce
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: lemon wedges, to serve (optional); 5 ml/1 tsp cornflour/cornstarch; 3 celery sticks, each sliced into 3–4 pieces; 2 onions, halved; 1.75 litres/3 pints/7½ cups water; 3–4 black peppercorns; 1 chicken, about 1.6 kg/3½ lb; 50 g/2 oz/⅓ cup short grain rice; 2 carrots, roughly chopped; juice of 1–2 lemons; few sprigs of fresh flat leaf parsley; 2 eggs, at room temperature; salt

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Food & Cooking of Greece

By Rena Salaman

Published 2023

About

Kotopoulo soupa avgolemono has to be one of the most delicious and nourishing soups in the world. It fills me with nostalgia because it reminds me of autumn lunches at home in Athens, where huge quantities were consumed. Its welcoming aroma always adds a bright note to a cold day, and it makes a very substantial meal by itself.

Ingredients

1 chicken, about 1.6 kg/3½ lb
1.75 litres/3 pints/7

Method

Place the chicken in a large pan with the water. Bring to the boil and skim using a slotted spoon until the surface of the liquid is clear. Add the vegetables, parsley and peppercorns, season with salt and bring to the boil. Lower the heat slightly, then cover the pan and cook for 1 hour (longer if a boiling fowl or stewing chicken is used), until the chicken is very tender.

Carefully l