Lemon Orzo Soup

I have a habit of going to the library to get the next book in a series I am reading, and walking out with a bag of books I can hardly carry.  This includes the next 4 books in the series, just in case someone comes and wants it before I finish the one I'm on...am I the only one who does this?  Then I just renew them until I can't renew any more.  Anyone?  Okay, maybe it's just me.

What else is in the bag you ask?  Cookbooks...LOTS of cookbooks.  This past time they had a lot of NEW ones too!  In MY section!  So it is only natural for me to take all the new ones to peruse at my leisure, right?  Well, I do it.  I usually take about half back the following day after I skim the pages and know I won't cook from them, because I feel guilty for taking so many books.  I know I'm weird...no need to point it out.

So you are wondering where this is going, right?  And if it's leading to the soup?  It is.  I found this cookbook by Eva Longoria and it has a LOT of recipes that I would like to try.  One of my childhood favorites is the Lemon Rice soup.  I have always had it when dining out, and have never attempted to make it at home.  This soup is made with orzo instead of rice.  It sounded similar and an easy accompaniment to the paninis I was making for the boys for dinner.

When my  husband works late, we do easy dinners.  The boys mostly request breakfast for dinner, paninis, or homemade pizza.  We went with paninis and soup since it was a little chilly out yesterday.  I think I added to much lemon, so will be careful adding that next time, but I still loved it.  The kids decided to have extra paninis and skip the soup.  That's okay though, it was tart. 

Boys sandwiches are always with the same ingredients per their request, sun dried tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  I add basil to mine.  YUM.

Here is the recipe:

Lemon Orzo Soup

Ingredients 

4 to 5 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth (home made or store bought)

1 cup dried orzo pasta

Juice from 1 to 2 small lemons (2 to 4 tablespoons juice)

2 large egg yolks 

Pinch of kosher salt

In a small saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Stir in the orzo and cook until al dente, 8 to 9 minutes. The soup should be very brothy. Add more hot stock if necessary. Stir in the lemon juice.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Stir the hot broth into the egg yolks 1 tablespoon at a time, up to 6 tablespoons. This tempers the yolks and prevents them from cooking too fast and curdling. Stir the yolks into the soup. Add a pinch of salt, or to taste. Ladle the soup into 2 to 4 soup bowls and serve at once.