Avgolemono Soup with Griddled Halloumi

It’s what makes so many Greek dishes sing: avgolemono is a staple of much Greek cuisine, and you may have enjoyed it many times without even realising it. It’s often a sauce – perfect when thrown over a pile of lovely prawns, calamari or grilled fish – and sometimes a soup.

Serves 4

1 litre chicken stock, at room temperature or cold, not hot
8 large eggs, beaten lightly
2 Tbs coarse sea salt
300g halloumi, in slices
1 Tbs fennel fronds, chopped
5 Tbs lemon juice

Slice the halloumi into 1cm strips. Cut half of these strips into 1cm dice.

Combine the lightly beaten eggs, room temperature chicken stock and 2 scant Tbs salt in a deep saucepan and whisk constantly over a low heat, until the soup thickens while the egg cooks. If the heat is too high, the egg will scramble or separate into strands.

Stir the fennel into the soup. Add the halloumi dice to the soup and stir. Then leave it alone, keeping warm and ready to serve.

Bring a skillet/griddle to a moderate heat and pan-fry the remaining halloumi slices; cut each strip into two pieces. (You could griddle them earlier if you prefer.)

Ladle the soup into bowls, stir equal quantities of lemon juice into each bowl, garnish with the grilled halloumi slices. DM

This recipe is adapted from ‘Avgolemono, halloumi’ in George Calombaris’s new book, Greek (Penguin/Lantern)