Greek Chicken Soup - Avgolemono

Greek soup with my Artisan Bread recipe

I discovered this recipe on Dinner a love Story Blog (click here), they call it 'The 15 Minute Keeper'. I have made and loved this recipe again and again. Of course I made modifications. I use a crockpot and make chicken broth (I don't like having to buy broth for several reasons; expense and why buy it when you can make it).

Ingredients 

6-8 cups water

3 Chicken Thighs, bone in, skinned

1 Onion, chopped (optional)

1/4 cup Orzo, uncooked

1-2 tablespoons Salt

To Taste, Pepper

4 Eggs

4 tablespoons lemon juice, or 1 lemon

Handful fresh dill, chopped (optional)

Directions

Step 1: In crockpot place frozen or room temp chicken thighs with onion and salt (I put a bit of salt in).

Step 2: Cover with water (I add enough water to cover plus 3-4 inches above the thighs).  

Step 3: Cook on stew setting for about an hour or two (all depends on your crockpot mine take 1 hour with room temp thighs and to 1 ½ hours if frozen). The thighs are done when the chicken easily separates from the bone and shreds.

Step 4: Shred the chicken and remove the bones and unwanted parts (I leave mine in and just pick it out as I eat to continue to get more flavor. Learned this from a Samoan family.)

Step 5: With the crockpot still on and cooking add the Orzo. Let simmer for 7 minutes.  

Step 6: In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and lemon juice until smooth. Ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg-and-lemon mixture, whisking to combine.

Step 7: Add the mixture back to the simmering saucepan. Stir just until the soup becomes opaque and thickens as the eggs cook, 1 to 2 minutes. Add dill, salt and pepper (to taste) and serve.