Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

Winter has been making one last effort (or at least I hope it's the last effort) to maintain a hold on the weather around here. It's been cold and windy and not quite sunny. In other words, it's still perfect soup weather. I decided to adapt another Pinterest recipe that I found. It was a copycat version of Olive Garden's chicken and gnocchi soup, which I really enjoy. I upped the amount of gnocchi in the recipe to make it more of a meal, but if you're serving it as an actual soup course, feel free to cut it back down to just 16 ounces. Justin wasn't a huge fan of this soup--he said it tasted canned, which is really bizarre since everything is made from fresh ingredients. Only the gnocchi came in any sort of a package, and I seriously doubt that would give it a canned flavor. I think he's just weird. I loved this soup and since Justin apparently doesn't want to have it for dinner again, I will definitely make it again for lunch sometime.


Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
5 cups chicken broth
32 ounces gnocchi
2-1/2 cups half-and-half, divided
1 cup diced white mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced green onion
1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup flour
Salt
Pepper


Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrot, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken breast cubes to the pot and cook through, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour in chicken broth, and stir well. Heat to boiling, and then add gnocchi. Cook until gnocchi are done--they will begin to float. For thicker soup, cover loosely and continue to cook for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (The starch in the gnocchi will help to thicken the broth the longer you cook it, but your gnocchi will be less firm.)

Add 2 cups half-and-half along with mushrooms, green onion, and spinach. Stir well and heat through. Combine flour with remaining 1/2 cup half-and-half, and whisk well to remove lumps. When soup is hot, stir in flour mixture to thicken. Cook until thickened and bubbly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.


Servings: 4-6


Recipe adapted from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts.