Greek Youvarlakia Meatball Soup in Avgolemono Sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   Fine grate the yellow onion into a medium bowl. Finely chop the fresh dill. Rinse the short-grain rice under cold water until clear, then drain completely. Set out a wide soup pot for cooking.

2. 2

   In the bowl with the grated onion, add the ground beef, short-grain rice, half of the chopped dill, olive oil (15 ml), salt, and black pepper. Knead vigorously for 4 minutes until cohesive, then shape into small 3 cm meatballs (about 20-24 pieces).

3. 3

   Pour 1.2 liters of water and remaining olive oil (30 ml) into the wide soup pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a rolling boil, add 1 tsp salt, then gently drop in the meatballs one by one. Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes until rice is tender.

4. 4

   While the meatballs simmer, squeeze the juice of two lemons. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with a wire whisk until frothy, for about 1 minute. Gradually pour in the lemon juice while whisking continuously until smooth and fully combined.

5. 5

   Remove the soup pot from the heat. Ladle out 2 cups (about 400 ml) of hot soup broth into a measuring pitcher. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot broth into the egg-lemon mixture in a thin stream to temper it without curdling the eggs.

6. 6

   Slowly pour the tempered avgolemono mixture back into the soup pot, gently stirring with a wooden spoon. Return to low heat for 2 minutes without boiling, stirring until slightly thickened. Stir in remaining dill and serve hot in bowls.