2chicken breastboneless skinless , cut in ½, about 1 pound
2quartchicken stockhomemade or canned/boxed
½cuporzo pasta(or rice) for about 3 1/2 ounces
5eggslarge
¼cuplemon juiceFresh! Add up to 1/2 cup depending on your taste (I use Minutemaid Frozen - it has no preservatives to affect the flavor)
Kosher salt
dillminced - for garnish
Instructions
In a 3-quart saucepan, combine chicken breast halves with chicken stock. Heat gently, using an instant-read thermometer to keep the temperature of the stock around 150°F.
Cook until the chicken breast reaches an internal temperature of 145°F, about 1 hour, then remove from stock.
When chicken is cool enough to handle, dice or shred the meat and set aside.
Add rice or orzo to stock and cook until just tender, about 20 minutes for rice and 13 minutes for orzo. Lower heat to a bare simmer.
Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, combine eggs with 1/4 cup lemon juice and beat until lightly foamy.
While whisking constantly, ladle in about 1/2 cup of the hot chicken broth into the eggs (it's okay if some rice or orzo comes along for the ride). Ladle in a three or four more 1/2-cup additions of the hot chicken broth while whisking, then whisk the egg-broth mixture back into the broth in the saucepan. Season with salt.
Cook the chicken soup over low heat, whisking and scraping the sides constantly, until thickened by the eggs. Taste soup, then, if desired, whisk in remaining lemon juice until your desired level of lemon flavor is reached. Season with salt again, if needed.
Add chicken meat, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with dill and serve.
Notes
If you want, you can use 2 quarts of a basic chicken soup with the meat already in it, but without the finishing aromatics like carrot and celery. Simply thicken as described in the recipe with eggs, then flavor with lemon and finish with dill.