🇬🇷 Greece

Giouvarlakia avgolemonoGreek meatball soup

Name: Giouvarlakia avgolemono (Greek meatball soup)
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 5 servings
Cuisine: Greece
Ingredients: 500 g (1.1 lb) beef mince, or half beef, half pork; 1 small onion, finely grated; 60 g (1/4 cup) short-grain (Carolina or glacé) rice, soaked a few minutes, rinsed, drained; 1 carrot, finely grated, for the meatballs; 3 tbsp chopped parsley; 2 tbsp chopped dill; 2 tbsp olive oil, for the meat; plain flour, for dusting; 4 tbsp olive oil, for the soup; 1 carrot, diced small; 1 small celeriac, diced small; 1 potato, diced small; 1 leek, finely chopped; 1.5 l (6 cups) hot water, or light broth; 2 eggs, whites and yolks separated; 120 ml (1/2 cup) lemon juice, juice of 2 lemons; 1 tbsp cornflour; salt and pepper, to taste

A Greek soup of small beef or beef-and-pork meatballs bound with raw rice, simmered with a little onion, carrot or other vegetables in plenty of broth or water and finished with avgolemono.

Origin and history

Giouvarlakia are Greek meatballs of mince and rice, that, with avgolemono, are made into a soup cooked for about 30 minutes in broth or water. The Greek recipe sources used here do not give their origin or date.

Make it at home

Makes: 5 servings
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Hands-on: 40 min

Ingredients

Metric US

500 g1.1 lb beef mince, or half beef, half pork
1 small onion, finely grated
60 g1/4 cup short-grain (Carolina or glacé) rice, soaked a few minutes, rinsed, drained
1 carrot, finely grated, for the meatballs
3 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped dill
2 tbsp olive oil, for the meat
plain flour, for dusting
4 tbsp olive oil, for the soup
1 carrot, diced small
1 small celeriac, diced small
1 potato, diced small
1 leek, finely chopped
1.5 l6 cups hot water, or light broth
2 eggs, whites and yolks separated
120 ml1/2 cup lemon juice, juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp cornflour
salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Knead the mince with the grated onion, rice, grated carrot, parsley, dill, the 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper until the mixture is even and has paled slightly.
2. Roll the mixture into small, evenly sized balls, dust each lightly with flour and set them on a plate.
3. Warm the 4 tbsp of olive oil in a pot and stir the diced carrot, celeriac, potato and leek in it for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add the hot water and bring it to a boil.
5. Lower the meatballs in gently, salt the pot, turn the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the meatballs are firm and the rice inside is tender.
6. Stir the cornflour into the lemon juice. In a bowl, whisk the egg whites until barely frothy, whisk in the yolks, then the lemon mixture.
7. Take the pot off the heat. Whisk in a ladle of hot broth a little at a time, then two or three more ladles to temper the eggs.
8. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot and swirl the pot gently, without stirring hard, until the broth turns creamy. Serve at once.

Notes

Giouvarlakia avgolemono is a soup of small meatballs bound with raw rice, simmered in plenty of liquid and finished with avgolemono, the egg and lemon liaison; the rice swells in the meatballs as they cook. A Greek news site's recipe calls it a soup.
Version choices: Proto Thema's recipe of the day uses 500 g of beef and 500 g of pork mince with 100 g of rice, no vegetables in the pot and 1 litre of water, with a simple avgolemono of 2 eggs and the juice of 1 lemon beaten and tempered four times.
Do not let the soup boil after the avgolemono goes in or the eggs will scramble. Taste and add lemon at the end; it should be bright and sharp.
Reheat gently, as avgolemono thins and may separate if reboiled. Shaped raw meatballs can be frozen on a tray and cooked from frozen, adding a few minutes.

Adapted from alfavita.gr: I apolyti syntagi gia giouvarlakia avgolemono and Proto Thema: I soudagi tis imeras, giouvarlakia.