Big Chunk Chicken Noodle Soup

It's FREEZING today, and Alan sounded like he was going to cough up a portion of his lung this afternoon when I talked to him at work. Just the right sort of day for homemade chicken noodle soup. It's really easy, and the homemade noodles are so worth the extra 10 minutes of effort.

Noodles:

1 egg

1 t. water

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking powder

enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough ball, plus additional for rolling (1 - 1 1/2 cups)

Whisk the egg and water until well combined, add the salt and baking powder, then stir in the flour until the dough is still somewhat sticky but forms a workable glob. Turn out on a well floured surface (this is important - it's better to go heavy on the flour than to have all of them stuck and unusable) and knead 10-12 turns until the dough forms a smoother ball. Roll out thinly and evenly. This much dough should spread out to roughly a 10 inch square. Cut the dough into 1/4" x 2 inch strips and set aside to dry while you prepare the rest of the soup. The noodles will roughly double in size when cooked, so keep that in mind.

For the soup:
1 large shallot, minced
1 T. butter
3 cups diced carrots
4 cans chicken broth
1 chicken breast (frozen is ok)
dash each celery seed, thyme, rosemary, allspice, oregano
1 bay leaf
few grinds of pepper
1 cup of frozen peas

In an 8 quart soup pot, saute the shallot in butter for 3-5 minutes until softened. Add the carrots, broth, chicken breast and spices and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken breast and dice into 1/2 inch chunks then return it to the pot. Add the peas and noodles and bring it to a gentle boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through and tender. Fabulous served with fresh sourdough bread. This amount will serve about 4 people.