chicken soup for my soul

it's officially fall, which means it's officially soup season. happy face. let's say we kick thing off with this oldie but goody (maybe besty). chicken noodle soup. used to be i only liked the stuff when i was sick, but this version is sooo good i could eat it all year long. wait...that's exactly what i do. anyhow...
i think this soup is best made with the carcass leftovers of a roasted chicken. even if i'm buying chicken specifically for this soup i'll roast it first. it may seem like an extra step, but the flavor is IMMENSELY better that way. also, you really can't substitute boneless anything into this soup, it will be bland and gross. okay, so here it is, my grandmother's recipe with a few little tweaks of my own:

chicken noodle soup

2 tbs olive oil

1 onion, diced

1-2 medium to large carrot(s), diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 potato, peeled and diced

1 tbs salt

1/2 tbs pepper

6 cups water

bones from a roasted chicken

6 sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups chicken stock

noodles (recipe below)

heat olive oil in a large soup pot. saute vegetables 3-5 minutes. add salt and pepper, water, thyme and chicken bones.  bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. strain and reserve liquid (this is homemade chicken stock for those who are wondering). let the bones cool enough to touch. pick off and reserve any meat left on the bones, then discard them along with the vegetables* and thyme sprigs (the leaves will have fallen off into the liquid). return your cooking liquid to the stove over medium to medium-high heat, add the extra chicken stock** and the reserved meat. slowly drop in your homemade noodles and heat through (about 10 minutes).

*these vegetables have totally leached all of their flavor and nutrients into the broth so they're pretty gross now. if you like veggies in your soup (like i do) chop up a few extras and saute them before you add the liquid back into the pot.

**i supplement with extra stock rather than more water to deepen the flavor.

noodles

5 large eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

measure flour either onto your board/counter or into an extra large bowl. add salt. form a well in the middle (like a flour volcano). break eggs into the well. using a fork, break the yolks and slowly mix the flour into the eggs. mix until you have formed a stiff dough. on a floured surface, roll dough out very thin (about 1/8 inch thick). using a pizza cutter or a vary sharp knife, cut into strips (noodles) make sure each of your noodles is covered with a dusting of flour (this thickens your soup later). let stand 1-4 hours*

*the drier the better. if your noodles are too wet, they cook up more like dumplings than noodles-not that that's a bad thing...