Name: Meatball soup with egg lemon sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 500 gr minced beef; 1 onion, almost mashed; 1 carrot, almost mashed; 3 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp parsley or dill; 2 tbsp rice; salt; freshly ground pepper; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrots, chopped; 2 tbsp rice; 1 1/2 water or beef broth; salt; freshly ground pepper; 1 egg; lemon juice from one lemon

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I do not think there is anyone who doesn’t love meatball soup with egg lemon sauce. It is the definition of comfort soup when it comes to Greek people.

Not only this soup has meatballs in it, its awesomeness goes to the next level with the addition of egg-lemon sauce. If only I had the cook who made egg-lemon sauce for the very first time. Standing ovation for this cook. I don’t believe there a soup recipe that doesn’t match with egg-lemon sauce.

NOTES FOR MAKING THE EGG-LEMON SAUCE

The crucial point of the egg-lemon sauce is not to boil the egg when adding the soup broth. Do not be afraid or nervous, the steps are easy and failproof. You just need to think logically.

If you add the the egg-lemon sauce to the hot meatball soup then the egg inevitably will boil. So, the first thing you have to pay attention is the temperature of the soup broth when adding to the egg-lemon sauce.

Thus, when the soup is ready set aside and follow these steps:

Withdraw 1-2 cups of soup broth. Set aside and let it cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk the egg until frothy. Give extra attention to the white part of the egg.
Slowly pour in the lemon juice and continue whisking.
Slowly drizzling the soup broth and keep whisking the egg-lemon mixture. In this way, the egg-lemon sauce is incorporated to the soup broth smoothly. Then add the mixture to the soup.

In some recipes, like the cabbage rolls recipe, I make a thicker sauce. Thus, If you want your egg-lemon sauce to be a little bit thicker you can add some corn flour to the lemon juice. One or two tablespoons will be ok.

MY TIP FOR MAKING THE PERFECT MEATBALL SOUP

I strongly believe that nowadays we have lost authentic flavor from our dishes due to the addition of commercial products. I totally understand that it is the easy way to add a veal broth from the super market to a soup, but when it comes to real flavor sometimes there is no easy way.

Thus, this year I decided to add only homemade broths to my dishes. Scary? Don’t be, it’s not that frightful. Just remember next time visiting the butcher shop, to buy some veal bones.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE VEAL BROTH

For making veal broth, except from the veal bones you will need one onion. Just that. The procedure is time consuming but easy to follow:

In a large pot add the bones after rinsing them with water. Add 2 tsp salt and the onion (do not chop it). Add water to the pot, until the bones are covered. Bring to boil. At the beginning with a small drain, remove the foam that will appear on the surface.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 hours. This way we will end up with a broth less in amount of water, but it will have so much flavor.
In a baking pan pour the broth by draining it. Let it come to room temperature and then refrigerate for about 2 hours.
When it freezes, the fat hidden in the broth will concentrate on the surface and can be removed very easily.
The broth will now be like a jelly. With the help of a knife, cut it into pieces and put it in the freezer. Your broth is ready!

With or without homemade veal broth, meatball soup is a dish that should not be missing from your winter table. Last but not least, some might prefer to add dill or some other herb in the meatballs mixture, I have added parsley. Whereas, as it concerns the minced meat, I used only beef. Feel free to use 1/3 mince pork.