Artichoke Soup

Recipe by: Crescent Dragonwagon | from Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread: A Country Inn Cookbook

Cookstr

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Total Time: Under 1 Hour

Skill Level: Moderate

Cost: Inexpensive

Photo by: Joseph De Leo

This is a delectable soup. Avgolemono is Greek for “egg and lemon.” If you’ve traveled to Greece, or eaten much in Greek restaurants, these bright flavors—sometimes used in sauces, sometimes in soup—will be familiar to you. Here, egg yolks give slight thickening to a flavorful broth, supplying a velvet smoothness; fresh lemon enlivens the whole.

Artichokes, much loved by the Greeks, are often served with lemon juice. It’s a wonder someone didn’t cut up artichokes into avgolemono soup a long time ago, and I feel sure they must have; but to my knowledge, this is an original pairing, and the ingredients are soulmates. This soup’s exquisite hot, refreshing cold. Its one drawback is its unattractive beige color. Compensate with a simple, colorful garnish–finely chopped parsley or mint, diced red pepper, or a lemon slice.

This is quick work once you have the artichokes done.

Yield: Serves 6 as a starter

INGREDIENTS

6 cups Chicken Stock 1 or Golden Vegetable Stock or any well-flavored chicken or vegetable stock
½ cup long-grain white or brown rice
3 to 5 egg yolks (larger number if you wish it thicker)
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained to remove seeds
2½ to 3 cups cooked artichoke hearts or bottoms and leaf scrapings, as well as any tender, peeled stems, coarsely chopped into uniform pieces (about 4 or 5 large artichokes or two 10-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed)
Chopped fresh parsley or mint, for garnish
Sliced red bell pepper, for garnish
1 lemon, sliced paper thin, seeds removed, for garnish

Directions

1. In a soup pot, bring the stock to a boil and stir in the rice. Turn down the heat to medium-low and let simmer, covered, until the rice is done, 20 to 25 minutes for white rice, 30 to 45 minutes for brown.

2. Whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice. When the rice is tender, ladle 1 or 2 scoops of the hot stock into the yolk mixture, whisking to blend. Pour the yolk-stock mixture back into the pot and blend. Barely simmer over very low heat, stirring constantly; the egg yolks will cook and slightly thicken the soup, about 2 minutes. Don’t let the soup boil.

3. Remove the soup from the heat. Stir in the cooked artichokes. Serve the soup hot immediately, or let it cool, chill deeply, and serve it cold the next day. In either case, ladle the soup into white bowls, sprinkle it with fresh parsley or mint (or a combination of the two), a scattering of red pepper, and float a slice of lemon on top. And life is good, isn’t it? Excellent served with a savory phyllo pastry triangle.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Nutrients per serving (% daily value)

Nutritional information is based on using 3 egg yolks, but does not include Chicken Stock 1 or Golden Vegetable Stock.

Calories 141kcal (7%)

Sodium 56mg (2%)

Total Carbohydrate 24g

Fiber 6g

Fat 4g (6%)

Trans Fat 0g

Saturated Fat 1g (6%)

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g