Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

photo credit here

This has nothing to do with thanksgiving dinner, but I was certainly grateful to get to eat this soup!  As much as I enjoy Olive Garden's soup and salad combo, I'd never tried this one from their menu.  So I can't say how close the recipe is to the original version, but it was delicious nonetheless.  I ended up adding more chicken broth to thin the soup a bit, leaving it still plenty rich, creamy, and a comforting fall soup.

• 1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced (you can use a rotisserie chicken)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart half and half (I used 1 cup half and half and the rest whole milk)
• 1 14 ounces can of chicken broth (I added at least one more cup)
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 cup carrots, finely shredded
• 1 cup onion, finely diced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoons extra virgin oil
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional
• 1 pound potato gnocchi 

Saute the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add the flour and make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half.

Cook gnocchi according to package directions.

Into the roux, add in the carrots and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick, add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasoning;, simmer until soup is heated through.