Chicken noodle soup... in a manner of speaking

Yesterday I was laid up in bed with a really nasty cold and I was craving some sort of chicken soup. Being too ill to slave over the stove for hours, I decided to forgo homemade soup in favor of something less labor intensive. That is, until I remembered a simple greek soup that I ate at my friend Sarah's house once. It's a greek soup called Avgolemono and it's almost as easy to make as opening a can of Progresso. It's also perfect to soothe a cold... hot, citrusy, and fills you up without being heavy.

Avgolemono is one of those recipes that changes wildly from hand to hand. Some recipes call for more of a stew-like consistency and include chunks of meat and mediterranean vegetables. Others are simple and more broth-like. After reading a few, I came up with one of my own that was perfect for my purposes.

Jebby's sick day Avgolemono

You will need:
4 cups chicken stock.
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Zest of 1/2 a lemon, cut off in one-inch strips
1/2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 large egg
Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring chicken stock to a low boil with the strips of lemon zest, the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Once the stock has barely begun to boil, fish out the zest, add the orzo and cook 10 minutes, or five minutes less than the directions on your package recommend. While the orzo cooks, beat the egg vigorously in a medium-sized bowl until there is no visible seperation between white and yolk. When the time is up, slowly incorporate a ladle-full of the hot broth into the beaten egg with your whisk. This will temper the egg and keep it from curdling when it meets the hotter temperature of the stock. Once the entire ladle of broth has been whisked into the egg, slowly pour the egg/broth mixture into the pot with the stock, stirring well. Cook five more minutes (or until the orzo is tender), stirring occasionally.

Makes 2 servings