Giovarlakia Soup

I've talked about the phenomenon of liking foods as an adult that you hated as a kid right? Well, this dish is also not one those!

Giovarlakia (You-ver-lawk-ya) soup is another Greek comfort dish that I always liked, be it as a child or in my pseudo-adulthood.

This is a meatball soup, finished off in the very familiar Avgolemono Sauce. It's also a quick dish, provided one has ready made stock and you don't mind rolling some meatballs.

I've had many varieties of Giovarlakia. Some good, some bad, some too thick, some too thin. Some like their meatballs real big, others real small.

I'll explain how I think Gioverlakia should be made. First, use a good chicken, veal or clear beef stock, be it homemade or store bought. It's a soup with delicate flavours and when you finish the soup with the Avgolemono mixture, one gets to appreciate the taste of the quality stock.

This soup should be a "medium thick". If made too thick, it can become paste-like the next day as the rice will absorb liquid. The soup should also not be thin or too sour from too much lemon. Did I mention it should be "medium thick?"

Finally, although my family always made large meatballs for this soup, I've found little, spoon-sized meatballs to work best.

Once again, the familiar flavour of Avgolemono has entered a Greek dish. Try this one out. It's a soup that eats like a meal, accompanied by crusty bread and finished off with freshly cracked pepper on the soup.

It's a cold, bone chilling day but I'm comforted by by big bowl of Giovarlakia soup.

Giovarlakia Soup

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg
1/3 cup Arborio rice + 1/2 cup Arborio rice for the soup
2 tsp. Vegeta Seasoning
2 tsp. pepper
2 quarts of good stock

Avgolemono
2 eggs
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. of flour

1. Mix your ground beef, egg, 1/3 cup of rice, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Form the entire mixture into meatballs.
2. Bring your stock to boil in a large pot. Drop your meatballs and 1/2 cup rice into the stock and bring back to a boil. Once you have a boil, reduce to a simmer (medium) with a just closed lid and cook for about 20 minutes. Take off the heat.
3. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, flour and lemon juice. While beating, add 1 cup of water.
4. Take a ladle of stock from your pot and slowly add it to your egg/lemon mixture while whisking.
5. Slowly add your egg/lemon mixture back into your pot of soup and simultaneously keep on stirring as you're pouring.
6. Adjust seasoning with salt and reserve for five minutes. Serve with some fresh parsley, cracked black pepper and some good bread.
   

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