Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

In honor of cooler (kind of ) weather I'm posting my version of a delicious Italian soup, Chicken and Gnocchi.  If you have never had gnocchi, it is a potato pasta.  I had always thought gnocchi would be difficult and was intimidated by it but it is actually VERY easy.

Gnocchi:

• 2 potatoes or one can of whole potatoes (You will need one cup of mashed potatoes, and the canned potatoes generally mash down to just over 1 cup.)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 egg

If you are using fresh potatoes, peel and boil them until cooked.  For canned potatoes, drain out all the liquid.  Put the potatoes in a bowl to mash them.

Mash up the potatoes with a potato masher.  Once the potatoes were pretty well mashed I used a fork to get rid of some of the larger lumps.  If it's a tiny bit lumpy it will be okay.

Put the potatoes in a bowl with the flour and egg and mix together.  (The gnocchi for this soup is meant to be a little bit bland.)  Once the ingredients are well mixed the dough will look lumpy.  Knead the dough together with your hand until it comes together.

Divide the dough in half.  You will only need half of the gnocchi dough for one batch of the soup.  Wrap the other half of dough in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for next time.

Roll the dough half into the shape of a long breadstick.  I always forget that the dough expands when it's cooked and end up with huge gnocchi pieces that barely fit into my mouth.  So, the narrower the better.  Divide the dough in half again and roll out two lengths of dough if that makes it easier to thin it out.

Cut the bread into bite-sized smaller than bite-sized pieces (because the dough expands).  I like to roll each piece once on the counter or cutting board to soften up the edges.

If you were to make these for a purpose other than soup, like under pasta sauce, you would start off with salted boiling water.  Drop the gnocchi in (they should sink to the bottom).  Once they make their way back up to the top (3-4minutes) they are done. Remove and cover with pasta sauce.

In this case we will leave them and move onto the soup...

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup:

• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 pound chicken breast, cooked and cubed
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 6 cups of water
• half recipe of gnocchi
• 6 ounces baby spinach leaves
• 1 T. corn starch with 2 T. cold water (optional)
• 2 cups milk, cream, half & half -- your choice
• salt and pepper to taste

Prep your veggies and boil or steam your chicken.  Once the chicken is cooked and cooled, cut it into bite-sized pieces.

Heat the oil in a large soup pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic to the hot oil.  It is very important that when you cook with oil that it is hot prior to adding ingredients.  If you add ingredients before the oil is hot they will end up absorbing a lot of the oil and you'll need to add more to compensate.  No need for the extra calories.

Once the veggies are tender, add the water, bouillon and chicken pieces.  Bring the soup back up to a simmer.

Drop in the gnocchi, careful to unstick them before they fall into the pot.

When they are done, they will float to the top like this.  This should take 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the spinach.

Allow the spinach to cook and wilt for about 3 minutes.

Add the milk and bring it back up to a simmer.  If you want a slightly thicker soup, add the corn starch/water mixture with the milk.  It doesn't make a huge difference but my husband likes it better thicker.  I prefer it brothy so sometimes I don't add it.

Salt and pepper to taste.

This soup is amazing and perfect for Autum!