Hmmm…. Winter’s here and I don’t know about you, but I got the munchies! And what better way to satisfy your hunger on a chilly evening than a meal drenched in warm egg and lemon sauce. One of these meals is Giouvarlakia – mince meat and rice balls swimming in a delicious sauce of avgolemono, i.e. egg and lemon. Yum. I highly recommend this, and today I’m sharing the recipe of my Gran Antigoni from Corfu. For those of you who don’t know me, my granny Antigoni is a miraculous cook. And I say miraculous because her tiny kitchen in Moraitika, Corfu is hardly big enough for two people to stand in comfortably, and yet she’s been preparing in there culinary delights that would put top chefs to shame.
Here’s a pic to prove my point about the epithet ‘tiny!’
Without further ado, here’s Gran’s recipe for Giouvarlakia:
INGREDIENTS (serves 2-3)
250 grams of mince (preferably a mix of pork and beef mince)
100 grams of rice for soup (in Greece, we use ‘glace’). Note: The rice goes in raw.
1 grated carrot
1 finely chopped red onion (in cubes)
parsley, dill
salt, pepper
For the avgolemono sauce:
1 medium-sized lemon
1 egg
PREPARATION
Use one hand to mix the ingredients for the giouvarlakia in a bowl. It looks like this:
Put a small amount of all-purpose flour in a saucer (about 1 tablespoon).
Take some of the mix and use your hands to make a small ball. Hold the ball in one hand and with your other, take a pinch of the flour and dust a little around the ball.
Put the ball on a large dish. Continue in the same way until you’ve used all the mix. You don’t have to use all the flour.
You’ll now have a dish with the giouvarlakia ready for the pot. As you can see, this recipe makes about 12!
Fill your kettle with water and boil it. Pour about two cups of this water in a large pot and heat it on your stove. Add extra virgin olive oil (as much as you would put in a soup… roughly 3-4 tablespoons), pepper and a bit of salt.
When it starts to boil, carefully place the giouvarlakia in the water. Add hot water as needed so the giouvarlakia are covered a bit more than halfway.
Cover and simmer. After about 20 minutes, use two forks to carefully turn the balls around. Leave it simmering another 20-25 minutes, then taste the water and add salt if needed (make sure there is some liquid left. If it’s been absorbed, add some hot water from the kettle. You need water in the pot to make the sauce).
At this point, prepare the avgolemono: Juice the lemon and set aside.
Separate the egg, beat the white with a fork in a bowl. While still beating, add the yolk.
While still beating, now add the lemon juice SLOWLY.
Using a spoon or ladle, take water from the pot and place it in a cup (minimum 2/3 of a cupful).
NOW DO THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY:
Start beating the egg again, while SLOWLY adding the water into the bowl. The water is hot, but the egg in the bowl is cold, hence the need to go slow as to warm up the egg gradually or the sauce will be ruined.
Throw the mix into the pot. Lift the pot from its handles and tip it slowly from side to side to spread the sauce evenly. Put the lid on and simmer for a few seconds.
Ready to serve!
I usually serve it with fresh bread and feta cheese but occasionally go for french fries too. Whatever you decide, I am sure it will be lovely. Enjoy!
Bonus tip: For extra frothiness in the avgolemono, Gran Antigoni uses an electric hand mixer to beat the egg white.
Interested in more wintry recipes with egg and lemon sauce? Try my chicken soup with avgolemono!
Do you enjoy books that highlight Greece’s immense food culture? You may want to read more about Gran Antigoni’s culinary triumphs in my semi-autobiographical, award-winning romance, The Ebb. This book is set in a nostalgic, 198os Corfu.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT AMAZON
Hungry for more? Browse through all my recipes here: https://effrosinimoss.wordpress.com/category/greek-recipes-2/
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That looks seriously awesome.
Plus, any post that starts with the words, “winter’s here” (or, even better, “winter’s coming,” to entertain us fantasy nerds) can’t help but be cool (get it?), right? 😀
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LOL!! Of course I get it 🙂 Glad I added (albeit inadvertently!) a sprinkle of fantasy charm into the post just for you, cuz 🙂 x
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Pingback: Giouvarlakia: A Greek wintry dish you don’t want to miss | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life·
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
A hearty warming dish for winter days.. rice and mince balls in egg and lemon sauce.. with recipe thanks Effrosyni Moschoudi
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Thank you for sharing, Sally!
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Thanks, Fros. Sounds delicious. I’m going to try that dish for sure.
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Enjoy it, Pete. It’s one of my favorites during winter. That and chicken soup – both with avgolemono sauce. Yum! Thank you for your visit 🙂
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This sounds really delicious, Fros. Might try it this week – it’s cold enough to want something comforting.
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Thank you for stopping by, Mary! Let me know how it goes xx
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I shared this with my wife. My guess is we’ll try it later this week.
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Great to hear from you, my friend! Thank you, hope you will enjoy it! MAKIA xxx
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I’m going to try this, it sounds just wonderful.
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Thank you for your visit, Hilary! Enjoy this meal, as I’m sure you will 🙂
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Just wrote down the recipe. Sounds and looks delicious. Will definetly try it soon
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Thank you for your enthusiastic comments! It’s a pleasure to know I could share this recipe with so many readers! Enjoy 🙂
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Definitely!
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OH, I get hungry just reading the ingredients. I love any Greek dish with lemon and egg. Adore your Granny’s kitchen.
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Thank you for commenting, Jackie! I hope you’ll try it 🙂 xx
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This sounds so yummy.Can’t wait to try this!
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Thank you for your visit – enjoy it!
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Omg, I shouldn’t have read this when I’m already hungry! Thanks for the recipe. If I had all the ingredients, I would make it now. 🙂
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Thank you for stopping by, DG! Hope you’ll try it 🙂
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I intend to. I’ll keep you posted. 🙂
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Oh my goodness, it sounds gorgeous! I need to try it!
Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
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Thank you for your enthusiastic comment! I hope you’ll enjoy this meal 🙂
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Hi! Thanks for sharing. Question: I’m assuming you make the balls by rolling up the meat raw, but is the rice that’s added to that raw as well or cooked? Wondering if it’s like putting raw rice into gemista.. thanks!
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Ya sou Amalia. Thank you for visiting my blog. Sorry, yes. The rice goes in raw, just like in Gemista! I’ll update the recipe to reflect this clearly. Thank you for pointing this out 🙂
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