by Karen Frazier

I’m on a soup roll. I’m making it about once a week right now because it keeps and freezes well, and because soup is tasty. This week, I decided to try my own take on an avgolemono (egg and lemon) soup made fragrant with garlic and herbed lamb meatballs. It was fully experimental, but incredibly delicious, and the house smelled fantastic! This is a simple soup that came together very quickly. It took me less than an hour to make. For fun, I used purple carrots in it, which added some nice color. I think next time, I may stir in about two cups of baby spinach after I add the lemon and eggs, because spinach goes so nicely with both lamb and lemon. The heat of the soup will wilt and cook the spinach almost instantly.

Avgolemono Soup with Herbed Lamb Meatballs

• 15 garlic cloves, divided
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh marjoram
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds ground lamb
• 2 tablespoons duck fat (or your favorite fat, such as olive oil)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 8 cups homemade chicken bone broth (or store bought chicken broth)
• Juice of 2 to 3 lemons
• 6 eggs
• Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1. In a food processor, pulse together ten of the garlic cloves with the marjoram, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper until finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, just chop the herbs and garlic finely and then mix with the salt and pepper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the chopped garlic/herb mixture with the ground lamb. Roll into one-inch meatballs and set aside. I use my stand mixer for this, because my hands get so cold when I mix the meat by hand.
3. In a large pot, heat the duck fat or olive oil on medium-high until it shimmers. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about five minutes.
4. Chop the remaining five garlic cloves and stir them into the onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
5. Add the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.
6. Drop in the meatballs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
7. Turn the heat off under the soup. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the lemons. Working about a tablespoon at a time, whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot broth into the egg and lemon mixture to temper the eggs so they don’t cook when you add them to the soup. Then, in a thin stream stir the egg mixture into the soup. If adding spinach, stir it in after you’ve stirred in the egg and lemon mixture.
8. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.