INGREDIENTS:
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 5 cups chicken stock, plus 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup orzo or rice
- 1 pound skinless chicken breast, diced
- Salt
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- Fresh parsley for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat the olive oil in a medium pot and saute the onions over medium-high heat until they are soft and translucent, 4-5 minutes. While the onions are cooking, bring another pot of salted water to a boil and add the orzo or rice.
- When the onions are ready, add the chicken stock and water and bring to a bare simmer. When the orzo or rice is nearly done — firm, but mostly cooked — drain the boiling water and add the pasta or rice to the chicken broth. Add the diced chicken breast to the pot. Let this cook 5-8 minutes, then taste the soup for salt.
- Beat the eggs in a bowl. Whisking constantly, add the lemon juice to the eggs. You will need to temper the eggs before you add the egg-lemon mixture to the soup. It takes both hands to do this. With one hand, whisk the egg-lemon mixture vigorously. With the other, slowly pour in a ladle’s worth of hot broth. Do this at least twice, and you can add as many ladle’s worth of broth as you want to the mixture.
- Turn the heat off the soup. Whisk the soup with one hand while you pour the hot egg-lemon mixture in with the other. Serve at once, garnished with parsley.