Kiria Vicki Sanidas’ traditional magiritsa recipe for Orthodox Easter

Magiritsa is a unique Greek soup made from lamb offal and romaine (cos) lettuce, garnished with fresh herbs and finished off with a delicious egg lemon sauce (Avgolemono). This traditional magiritsa recipe is the dinner prepared and served in almost every household in Greece on Holy Saturday.

Ingredients:

• A neck of lamb
• A lamb heart
• 1 piece of lamb stomach
• 4 small onions
• 1 small handful of dill
• ½ cup of rice
• Salt and pepper
• 3 dried bay leaves
• 2 litres of water

Method:  

1. In a large pot, put all the meat to boil. Let it simmer until boiling and then change water into another pot
2. In another pot, put all the meat, bay leaves and enough water to cover them all
3. Let them simmer on low heat for approximately 2 hours
4. Take pot off stove to cool
5. Take meat out of pot and cut it all up into small pieces
6. Drain and strain the remaining liquid
7. Then thinly slice onions
8. Put all thinly sliced meat, rice, bay leaves, dill and thinly cut onions back into the pot altogether, adding the strained water and put on moderate heat, to boil. Leave to the side, once boiled

For the avgolemono

You will need 1 egg + 1 lemon (juiced).

Method:

1. Beat the egg in a bowl until it’s nice and foamy, and then slowly slowly, add the juiced lemon
2. Then add in half a cup of the soup broth into the bowl with the egg and lemon, then whisk it all together
3. Then pour the bowl into the soup saucepan, then it is ready to serve

Note: When adding the half cup of soup broth to the egg and lemon bowl (prior to whisking), make sure the soup broth is not too hot!