Recipe for Giouvarlakia, a simple and satisfying Greek soup

Deliciously satisfying all year round, Giouvarlakia is a simple and traditional Greek soup featuring meatballs in a creamy egg-lemon sauce.

You can create a beautiful Giouvarlakia dish for the entire family with only a few key ingredients and in just a few simple steps.

RECIPE:

Yield - a family of four

Ingredients

500g ground beef

2/3 cup medium grain rice

1 grated onion

2 cloves grated garlic

1/2 grated fresh tomato

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 whole egg

Salt and pepper to taste

Extra 1/4 cup of medium grain rice

2 eggs separated

Juice of 2 lemons 🍋

Method

Begin by placing a large pot of water (filled approximately half way) onto medium high heat with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Combine all the yiourvalakia ingredients together in a bowl. Work the mixture well with your hands until it holds very well. Using a table spoon, spoon out equal parts of the mixture and form them into balls gently placing them in the water.

Once all of the meatballs have been added to the pot, add in the extra 1/4 cup of rice (this will help the soup to thicken slightly).

All the soup to come to a gentle boil, begin to skim off any impurities that surface. Allow the yiourvalakia to cook for approximately 40 minutes or until the rice in the meat balls has cooked through.

Once it’s ready, taste and adjust for seasoning and turn off the heat whilst you prepare the avgolemano. In another bowl, begin by vigorously whisking the egg whites until they are foamy then add the yolks and whisk again. Slowly stream in the lemon juice as you continue to whisk.

Using a ladle spoon out the hot stock from the pot and gentle stream it into the avgolemano mix whilst whisking and repeat with another 5-6 ladles full. Pour the avgolemano mix with the stock back into the pot stirring gently and place the lid on for 10-15 minutes and serve with freshly cracked black pepper. Kali orexi.

Credit: Mary’s Kouzina – recipe and photo

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