Instant Pot to the rescue - Avgolemono Soup

One of the most comforting soups that I make is this Greek lemony chicken soup that is thickened with egg. Sometimes I make it with orzo but because I prefer to use a nice, starchy rice like arborio it usually takes a solid 45 minutes or so to make even if I have the chicken stock on hand. That's not super time consuming, by any means, but on nights where I realize that it is 7pm and I forgot to make dinner (which actually happens more than you can imagine),  knowing that I can whip this up in about ten minutes is thrilling in my little world. 

If you want to make this on the stove, just cook it for about 30 minutes to make sure the rice is soft and tender. Oh, and after you add the egg, don't bring it back to a boil, just heat until just about to simmer and steaming - we don't want any scrambled eggs in our soup. I used Litehouse Salad Blend dehydrated herbs for this because in the winter, it can be difficult to find fresh herbs. Okay, its more likely that it's cold and snowy and I just don't want to walk 15 minutes to the nearest produce market to pick some up and the next best thing to use are dehydrated herbs. Unlike dried herbs, they reconstitute once you get them wet and they are much closer to fresh so I keep them on hand all the time. I actually prefer this Salad Blend because although there is some dill in there, it's not overpowering and I find fresh dill, even just a smidge, is too dilly for me.

Instant Pot Avgolemono Soup 

makes about 6 servings

6 cups chicken stock
heaping 1/2 cup arborio rice
juice from 2 lemons or 100ml
2 large eggs
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (left over from making stock works well)
2 tsp Litehouse Salad Blend (or a few tbls fresh dill)
a handful of fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

Put the chicken stock and rice in the pot and cook at High Pressure for 7 minutes. If you want to speed up the time it takes to come to pressure, bring it to a boil using the sauté feature before closing up the lid and setting your 7 minutes on the Manual setting. When the time is up, quick release. Open the lid, throw in the chicken and the herbs.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the lemon juice until frothy in a medium sized bowl. Add a pinch of kosher salt and few grinds of black pepper. Slowly start to pour about 2 cups of the chicken stock into the eggs/lemon, whisking the entire time to avoid getting scrambled egg. When the broth is incorporated into the egg/lemon, pour it back into the soup. Once the egg is in, don't let it boil again, just keep it hot. The soup will turn a creamy white. Taste for salt and add a pinch if it needs it. Throw in some fresh, chopped parsley right before you serve it.