Youvarlakia

I think Elly at Elly Says Opa said it perfectly. Youva-whata? We spent a solid 5 minutes trying to figure out how to pronounce this dish while making it. Call it whatever you want, I call it delicious. I was really surprised at just how creamy the egg made this. The combination of lemon, rice and meatballs is phenomenal. It’s not quite a stew (not really thick enough) but I wouldn’t call it a soup either. I would describe it more as a meatball dish with a very flavorful, thickish sauce. We cut back on the lemon slightly from what the recipe stated, which I have reflected below. If you are looking for a really creative, unique dinner that will satisfy everyone give this a try.

Oh and if delicious and easy wasn’t enough, it comes in at under 500 calories per serving. Hooray for Greek Food! If you haven’t checked out Ellys blog, please do. She is fabulous, witty and makes pretty amazing food!



Just a side note: I feel fresh lemon is absolutely crucial to this recipe. Please don’t use the bottled stuff! There are very few ingredients to the dish, so quality really counts here.

Youvarlakia
Barely Adapted from Elly Says Opa

1 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, divided
4 cups broth
1 to 1.25 lb. lean ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
1 egg, lightly beaten
3  Tbsp. fresh parsley or 1  Tbsp. dried
fresh dill, to taste (optional)
ground pepper, to taste

Avgolemono Sauce
3 eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, (This should be between 1-2 large lemons, add more to taste)
hot broth from cooking youvarlakia

 

To make the soup and meatballs: Cut the onion in half. Finely mince or grate one half and put in a large bowl.

Dice the other half of the onion. Heat a medium sized (4 qt)  pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the butter. Stir in the diced onion and cook until translucent. Add the broth to the pot and bring to a light boil.

Meanwhile, make the meatballs. To the grated/minced onion, add the beef, salt, parsley, dill (if using), ground pepper, uncooked rice and beaten egg. Form the mixture into 1″ meatballs (you will get around 25).

Drop the meatballs into the simmering broth. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 20-25 minutes, until meatballs cook through and rice is done. Remove from heat.

To make the avgolemono sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk the 3 eggs with the lemon juice until combined.

Slowly drizzle hot broth from the meatballs by the ladle-full into the egg/lemon mixture, whisking continuously so as not to scramble the eggs. Repeat until about half the broth from the pot is in the bowl.

Slowly pour the egg/lemon/broth mixture back into the meatballs, stirring as you do so. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you think you would like more lemon juice, add as you see fit.

Note: the temperature of the broth is enough to cook the eggs; however, if you are worried, you can always reheat the mixture over very low heat, stirring, before serving.

 

Nutrition info per servings (4 servings). Note: I used 96% lean beef, but this calorie information is using 93% lean. Calories: 361 / Fat: 15.2g / Carbs: 25g / Fiber: 1.1g / Protein: 32.7

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