I was in New York recently and had a wonderful Avgolemono soup at Snack Taverna in The Village. I loved it so much I wanted to bring the taste back home with me. So, I’ve created this pressure cooker version of it. It’s pretty tasty.
Pressure Cooker Avgolemono
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb Chicken Breast, with skin and bones (this recipe works equally as well with only 1 lb of chicken)
1 sm Onion, roughly chopped
3 lemons
2 lg Eggs
6 cu Chicken Stock
1 bunch Fresh Dill
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 cu Arborio Rice
1 tbl Flat Leaf Parsley, very finely chopped
Olive Oil, Lemon slices and dill sprigs, optional for garnish
Method
Prepare the chicken. Cut one lemon in half. Cut slices from one the halves and juice the other. Set aside. Season chicken with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Place in pressure cooker pot. Add the lemon slices, lemon juice, a few dill sprigs and 1/2 cup of water. Set pressure cooker to high for 20 minutes. Use quick release method to release steam. Test chicken for doneness (time will vary depending on thickness of chicken…Internal temperature should be 165F). Remove chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. Carefully pour out and discard other ingredients (use oven mitts to remove pot insert).
Prepare soup. Pour chicken stock and arborio rice into the pressure cooker pot. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Set pressure cooker to high for 7 minutes. Use the quick release method to release steam.
Meanwhile, remove and discard skin and bones from chicken. Chop chicken into small cubes or shred it (your choice). Remove lid from pressure cooker and add chicken and parsley/dill blend. Stir to combine and set pressure cooker to simmer.
Squeeze the juice from the two remaining lemons and set aside. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk eggs until frothy. Whisk the lemon juice into the egg mixture. While still whisking, slowly ladle about 2 cups of the hot soup into the egg mixture (if you pour the soup in too quickly, you’ll scramble the eggs). Once fully incorporated, add the egg mixture into the pot. Stir to combine and heat through, being careful not to boil the soup.
To serve, ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with a few drops of olive oil, a very thin lemon slice, and a small sprig of fresh dill. Enjoy!