Recipe: Avgolemono Soup with Spiced Veal Meatballs and Rice

AVGOLEMONO SOUP WITH
SPICED VEAL MEATBALLS AND RICE

1/2 pound ground veal
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup grated yellow onion
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons minced fresh mint
1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup dry whole-wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
9 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup long-grain white rice
2 eggs
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Chopped fresh mint

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In bowl, mix veal, garlic, onion, lemon zest, mint, parsley and egg yolk. Add bread crumbs and milk, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Form into 3/4-inch meatballs. Place on an oiled baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes. Set aside.

Bring stock to boil in soup pot. Reduce heat to medium-low; add rice, salt and pepper. Simmer slowly 10 minutes.

Add meatballs and continue to simmer until rice is cooked, 10 minutes.

Beat eggs and juice of 1 lemon in bowl until light and frothy. Add 1 small ladle boiling broth to egg mixture and beat vigorously. Continue to add broth a ladle at a time, beating after each addition, until you have added 5 or 6 ladlefuls.

Pour mixture back into soup pot. Taste and add additional lemon juice, salt and pepper, if needed.

Garnish with parsley and mint and serve immediately. Do not reheat this soup to boiling point or it will curdle.

Servings: 6
Source: From Tapas to Meze: Small Plates from the Mediterranean by Joanne Weir