Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi soup is a newer addition to the Olive Garden soup offerings. The Olive Garden CHicken and Gnocchi Soup is known for their creamy chicken and gnocchi soup. This is a rich soup that you can make a full meal from this soup alone. This soup features roasted chicken, potato gnocchi, carrots, celery, and spinach. Soup warms the soul, and this soup is no exception. It is not likely that you will have any soup left over when you make this tasty 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
- 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
- 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup carrots, finely shredded
- 1 cup onion, finely diced
- 1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon parsley
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese – optional
- 1 pound potato gnocchi – can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets
Sauté the onion and garlic in the butter, when 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, celery, and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasonings.
Comments about this recipe: You can add more chicken if you like. While you could use left over cooked chicken breasts, I really think using the rotisserie chicken that are found in many grocery stores is the best way to get the optimal flavor of this soup. If you want to make the soup lower calorie you can use milk instead of half and half. Half and Half, does taste better, and it also reheats better than milk does.
