Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

A month or so ago I went out to lunch at Olive Garden with some friends. I had the chicken and gnocchi soup and thought it was delicious. When I got home that day, I looked up a recipe for the soup and saved it. Of course, life happened and I didn't get around to making this until last night. Boy oh boy... it was worth the wait!

I couldn't find frozen gnocchi at the store so I decided to make my own. It isn't difficult or time consuming, so don't shy away from it. All you do is boil potatoes, mash them, mix in flour and egg, roll into a rope, and cut. Easy peasy and oh so delicious. Here is my 1 pound of gnocchi all ready to go into the soup.....

While the gnocchi is totally the star of this soup, we can't forget about the celery, onions, carrots, garlic, spinach, chicken broth (I threw in a little bouillon to up the chicken flavor), cream, and half and half. This soup was AMAZING! Nathan had two huge bowls and wanted more. This soup has earned a spot in our regular recipe rotation!

Enjoy!

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Recipe adapted from Food.com

1 large chicken breast, cooked and diced
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1 stalk celery, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
salt and pepper
16 ounces potato gnocchi (recipe below)

Saute the onion, celery, garlic, carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.

Add chicken, chicken stock, salt, pepper, bouillon and thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.

Mix in cream and half and half; heat through.

Gnocchi
Recipe from Allrecipes

2 potatoes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and add to pot. Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Combine 1 cup mashed potato, flour and egg in a large bowl. Knead until dough forms a ball. Shape small portions of the dough into long "snakes". On a floured surface, cut snakes into half-inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.