Macedonian Youvarlakia Avgolemono (Γιουβαρλάκια Αυγολέμονο)

Macedonian youvarlakia avgolemono are the winter soup of little meatballs, beef and rice simmered together until the rice swells from inside the balls and gives the broth body. The region is the dish's surname here: in the northern home kitchen the broth is pale, lemony, and gentle, with dill enough to smell fresh but not enough to take over.

The whole dish depends on the avgolemono. You pull the pot from the heat and warm the eggs with hot broth a ladle at a time before they return to the soup. Do that, and the broth turns silky. Rush it, and you've made scrambled egg in a very nice soup, which is a small domestic tragedy and completely avoidable.

I like youvarlakia on a weekday because they taste like a grandmother's long morning without needing one. The rice does some of the thickening for you, the meatballs cook in their own broth, and the lemon wakes the whole pot. Good olive oil, and patience. That is enough.