Aunt Nanny's Chicken Potpie

Until I was in college, I didn't know that most people expect a chicken potpie to actually be, well, a pie. I grew up on the Pennsylvania Dutch style chicken potpie, one that is by far my favorite childhood meal. My wonderful Aunt Nanny made the chicken and homemade egg noodle "potpie" for many birthdays and special occasions usually with a side of peas, my favorite, much to my pea-hating sister's chagrin.

I can still feel the smooth, elastic consistency of the dough in my tiny hands as I stood on a small wooden step stool to reach the counter. She would roll out the dough to the perfect thickness and let me cut out the noodles with a pizza cutter, gently reminding me not to make them too wide. She would make some thick and some thin, because she would say "Uncle Dick likes the thin ones". We would put the noodles into the seemingly bottomless pot on the stove and I would hover above it, taking in the thick steam.

My sweet Aunt Nanny passed away a few weeks ago, so for this Thanksgiving I decided to make her potpie because I am so thankful to have had her in my life and, of course, her delicious potpie. I am certainly a lucky girl.

I remember my Aunt making this with whole chicken parts on the bone. I used boneless chicken breast this time, but next time I will use whole chicken parts for a better broth and the falling apart, moist, darker chicken I remember. The recipe below is the way I made it today, but I hope to improve on this recipe in the future. Another note: I used a 4 quart deep saute pan, but a deep pot would work better.

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless chicken breast
2 chicken bouillon cubes (small)
6 cups water

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Boil water in large pot. Cube the chicken breast and add to boiling water with chicken bouillon cubes. Cook on med-high for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine flour and eggs to make dough. Slowly add milk and knead, but don't overwork. Add flour if dough is sticky.

Roll out half of the dough to about a 1/4 inch thick. Note that the noodles will thicken when cooked, so roll the dough out slightly thinner than desired thickness. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut noodles about 1-2 in wide.

 Add noodles to chicken and broth and cook for 25 minutes. The noodles float to the top, resembling a pie, perhaps?