Chicken Gnocchi Soup

The other day i took my littles to the Family Dollar over on 28th, because we always try and put together fun kits for our upcoming travels. We are headed to the beautiful sunny state of California once again and we are all so excited to get back to the land of palm trees and In N Out burgers..

We try and get to the dollar store ahead of time because there is a variety of items to choose from at such an unbeatable price [c'mon, a dollar?!] that suits perfectly for keeping them busy.

We picked up coloring books, stickers, crayons and markers, plenty of paper, and of course little toys that are easy to play with while sitting stationary.. i rather enjoy perusing the aisles of the Family Dollar with my teeny tiny shopping cart-there are always surprises that i wouldn't expect...

like a variety of ethnic food items! I loved finding European food, Spanish food, and other random things that i sometimes see in the ethnic aisle at a substantially higher price, but here-lots of fun things for a fraction of the cost.

I found a 1 pound bag of gnocchi and it was even labeled 'product of Italy', and the packaging looked authentic [enough]. ;)  I dropped it in the cart and went about the rest of the shopping.

My husband has always enjoyed the Chicken Gnocchi at Olive Garden, although i always hands down pick the Zuppa Toscana, which many of you already know, i have learned and mastered here. I thought it would be fun to try and see of i couldn't put together a similar soup dish as the Gnocchi one then? For my husband's sake?

This soup turned out rather well, and we both enjoyed it very much. It is probably more hearty than the Olive Garden version-that one is mostly cream with a few gnocchi and tiny bits of chicken-not bad by any means-but mine has plenty of spinach, carrots and celery, and shredded chicken swimming around in it-and with that generous amount of gnocchi, well, there is simply no skimping.

It is creamy and flavorful, each veggie adds its weight and contribution, and to sink your teeth into to a soft pillow of starchy gnocchi is wonderful and delicious.  I would rather say when this was tried and done, the Olive Garden soup was more of an inspiration to guide me, but i certainly did not try and reciprocate it exactly in the end. I am sort of glad it turned out different, but i love this new outcome of chicken gnocchi soup.

please enjoy. i know we sure did. I made a crisp arugula salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, as well as a crusty loaf of garlic bread that we popped in the oven.

here is the recipe:

1 large boneless chicken breast
3 large carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1-2 tablespoons of flour
chicken stock- i eyeballed this, so maybe it was 1-2 cups
water-eye ball it
1 1/2 cups freshly chopped spinach
1 teaspoon nutmeg
plenty of kosher salt and crushed black pepper
1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream [my guestimate..and y'all know i go a little crazy with the hwc]


in large soup pot, heat up olive oil and saute carrots and celery.

add butter, and form a rouge, stirring quickly to mix butter and flour, coating all the veggies.

eyeball and add water.

add in chicken stock too. 

drop in chicken breast, and allow to simmer/boil until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken and shred it.

Add chopped spinach and gnocchi. lots of simmering:)

Stir shredded chicken, cooked down spinach, and gnocchi. Add spices and taste test for salt satisfaction. 

add in cream last.  turn heat off and add it to your liking. 

Ladle into bowls and top with grated Romano cheese.

turn on Italian radio on Pandora and enjoy your meal.