Traditionally Greeks eat an ‘Easter’ soup called Mayeritsa
made of lamb intestines and heart which is as much about practicality as it is
symbolic meaning for the holiday. At
some point my future may include roasting a whole lamb and using the intestines
for traditional soup, but for now, my culinary experience has yet to mature to
tripe, so I’ve adopted this recipe, modified from Greek Cuisine by
Vefa Alexiadou.
Ground lamb can be rather expensive, especially in the
spring, so when I prepare this for a large party (and I always do) I substitute
half of the ground lamb for a ninety-percent ground beef. I typically make this soup for 30+ guests,
and all of it can be made ahead and assembled with ease at the last minute. The chicken stock can be made weeks in
advance, defatted and frozen. In fact, I
even cheat and use store-roasted chickens, deboning and saving the meat for
another recipe and then cooking the vegetables and bones to make the stock for
this soup.
The meatballs can be made at any time and frozen. They can even go straight into the soup
frozen but will require additional cooking time. My preferred method for cooking the meatballs
is to cook them the day before, remove them from the broth, and then cool and
defat (skim the fat from the top of) the liquid a second time for a cleaner
flavor. To serve, bring the broth to a
simmer and add the meatballs, let them come up to heat and then finish with the
lemon-egg mixture.
This soup is incredibly satisfying with its delicious
chicken stock base, the bite of the lamb and rice meatballs, the creaminess of
the egg laden broth, and that unexpected bright lemon accent. The flavor profile is unique and addictive;
few can pass up the opportunity for a second (or even third) helping.
Note: The addition of the
egg essentially turns this soup base into an emulsified sauce similar to a
hollandaise. Leftovers should be
reheated slowly over medium-low heat in a double boiler to avoid curdling.
4-6 Servings
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Ingredients List
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30+ Servings
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Stock
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1
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roasted and deboned chicken, skin and fat discarded, leaving wings
and other joints with plenty of meat available to flavor the broth.
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2
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6-8 cups
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cold water (enough to cover the ingredients in the pan)
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12-16 cups
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1
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onion, quartered
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2
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2-3
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medium carrots, rough cut
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5-6
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2-3
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celery ribs, rough cut
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3-5
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½ bunch
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flat-leaf parsley, stems and all
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1 large bunch
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Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot and slowly bring to a
simmer. Remove impurities from the
stock as it simmers by skimming the top to remove the scum that accumulates
during cooking. Simmer on low for
approximately 6 hours; regularly skim the top of the pot to remove
impurities. Strain through a fine
sieve and discard solids. Place
container in ice bath to bring the temperature down quickly and place in
refrigerator to continue to chill.
Once cold, remove all fat that has floated to the top of the
container. Stock can be frozen at this
point.
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Meatballs
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1 lb
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ground lamb, beef and/or veal or any combination
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6 lb
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¼ cup
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converted white rice
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1 ½ cups
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3 Tablespoons
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parsley, finely chopped
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1 large bunch ( ¾ to 1 cup)
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2 Tablespoons
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dill, finally chopped
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1 large bunch ( ½ to ¾ cup)
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2 Tablespoons
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olive oil
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½ cup
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1 teaspoon
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salt
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2 Tablespoons
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½ teaspoon
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Black pepper
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1 Tablespoon
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Flour to dredge
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In a large mixing bowl combine all meatball ingredients except flour
and knead the mixture a few minutes to thoroughly combine. Using a small ice cream scoop,
measure out equally portioned meatballs, roll them in hand, and dredge each
in flour. Arrange them neatly in
rows on a cookie sheet to make counting them easier (if the need for dividing
into equal portions is needed.)
To cook meatballs bring the stock to a simmer and drop meatballs in a
few at a time. Simmer on low for 20
minutes. Remove them from the stock if
not serving immediately, allow stock to cool and defat a second time if
holding to serve later. Finish the
soup with the avgolemono.
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Avgolemono
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2
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eggs
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10-12
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¼ cup
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lemon juice
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1 cup
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Soup should be hot and meatballs (added back to stock if removed)
cooked through. Test soup base for
salt and add if needed. Beat the eggs
lightly and add lemon juice a little at a time, beating continuously. Remove soup from heat. Carefully ladle the hot stock into the
egg/lemon mixture whisking vigorously to temper the eggs before adding them
to the pot. Repeat the process for
larger batches until the egg mixture is heated through, then add to the pot
and stir to combine. Serve
immediately.
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