Greek Lamb Soup

This is one of our favorite recipes, and an excellent way to incorporate lamb into your Easter celebration, whether you have it on Easter Sunday, or on one of the other 50 days of Easter!

I made this for the first time on 2018 and it has become one of our favorites! I often substitute ground lamb for the chopped lamb the recipes calls for. The recipe and backstory come from one of my favorite cookbooks: A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz. If you are looking for a cookbook to help you incorporate the year-round celebrations of the Christian faith into more of your cooking, you should definitely look for a copy of this cookbook!

Greek Lamb Soup: Mageritsa

It is with this soup–served with bread, cheese, and eggs–that Greek Orthodox Christians have traditionally broken their Lenten fast, after the midnight service, early on Easter morning. This meal is eaten by the light of the Resurrection candles that are distributed in church to each member, and brought home carefully, still burning. A traditional greeting is given: the triumphant words “Christ is risen!” meet the jubilant answer “He is risen indeed!”

In Greece, this soup is made of the entrails of the lamb that has been slaughtered and will be spit-roasted for the Easter feast. (Every part of the lamb–symbolic of Christ–is precious.) Since lamb innards are hard to find in this country, this version of the soup is made with small pieces of lamb meat.

Ingredients:

2 pounds boned lamb leg or shoulder, very finely chopped [or 2 pounds ground lamb]

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

8 cups water or stock

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons dry mint, or 4 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

1 1/2 teaspoons dill weed, or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1/2 cup raw rice [we have also substituted pasta depending on our audience or mood]

4 eggs

juice of 2 lemons

In a large pot, saute the meat a little at a time, until nicely browned. (You will probably not need any oil, but can use the fat that the meat renders. Discard excess fat as it accumulates.) Remove the meat and drain on paper towels. Pour out the remaining fat from the pot.

Saute the onion and celery in the olive oil until golden brown. Return the meat to the pot and add the water or stock, salt, parsley, mint, dill weed, and rice. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked.

Just before serving, prepare an egg-lemon mixture: Beat the eggs well. Gradually beat in the juice of the two lemons. Add 2 cups of the hot soup slowly to the egg mixture, beating constantly. Stir this mixture gradually back into the soup, stirring constantly. Return the soup to the heat and stir vigorously until it is thickened. Do not boil. Serve immediately.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings