“Magiritsa” is eaten to break the fast of the Greek Orthodox Great Lent, the 40 days before Easter. In its traditional form, the soup consists of the offal removed from the lamb before roasting, flavoured with seasonings and sauces. Prepared on Holy Saturday along with the next day’s lamb, magiritsa is consumed after the midnight Divine Liturgy. ΚΑΛΗ ΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΗ!
Traditional Greek Easter Soup “Magiritsa”
Ingredients
For the egg-lemon sauce
Instructions
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Wash the liver. In a pot add the liver with plenty of water and bring to a boil. Blanch in hot water for about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool down for a while. Chop liver in very small pieces.
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Chop lettuce, leek and onions. Prepare the herbs.
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Heat the oil in a soup pot, then briefly sauté the leek, the onions and the chopped liver over high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the wine and let it reduce a bit.
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Add 600 ml of water to the pot together with the lettuce and the stock. After 5 minutes add the herbs and allow the whole to cook for about 20 minutes, in medium heat, covered.
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Add the rice, cover again the pot, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes.
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In the meantime, break the egg in a bowl and add the water and 1 pinch of salt. Using a hand mixer beat the mixture on high speed for about 2 minutes. Lower the speed, gradually, add the lemon juice and beat until combined.
The volume of the beaten eggs will increase, the texture will go from liquid to thick and foamy and the colour will be a light yellow. -
Slowly add 3-4 full ladles of the "magiritsa" broth in the egg-lemon sauce bowl, one ladleful at a time, whisking continuously with a hand whisk or fork. Try to add broth from the surface of the pot.
This step is necessary to warm the sauce up. By increasing the temperature of the egg-lemon mixture to that of the level of the broth, the yolks won’t become solid. -
Pour the frothy sauce mixture into the soup and stir gently until combined. Remove from heat.
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Ladle the soup while still warm into bowls and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
- Go veggie! Replace lamb with oyster mushrooms.
- This egg-lemon sauce is called "avgolemono" and is very popular in the Greek cuisine.