Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

Little finished gnocchi.



I was just at Olive Garden last Friday. I had their half panini sandwich and the Chicken and Gnocchi soup. It was very tasty. I loved the little gnocchi. Coincidentally, Penny Pincher's on FB had a copycat Olive Garden soup recipe last week. I wanted to try it, but didn't get around to it. Imagine my surprise, when they listed a copy cat recipe for the Chicken Gnocchi soup. I printed it out, and went to the store to get my ingredients to make it. They said you can find frozen Gnocchi in the freezer section of some food stores. Not Walmart. I got a potato, and my soup ingredients and went home and made my first potato gnocchi....ever. They were really easy. I'll list that recipe first, so I can remember it. Funny, I always think I am going to remember something, then a week or so later, I can't remember much about it. I am quite certain I am somewhere in Alzheimer land.

Easy Potato Gnocchi

I medium potato

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup plus needed flour to make dough

Cook potato in microwave for four minutes, or until done. Cool slightly, and put potato through a sieve, and let sit 15 minutes or until completely cool. Add the beaten egg, and mix. Add the 1/3 cup flour and mix, adding flour until you get a dough that sticks together, and not to your hands. Shape into a log, then cut log into four equal parts. Take first piece and roll into a thin snake shape about six-nine inches long. Cut into 1/2 inch little pieces. Do the same for all your other three pieces. You can use them the way they are, or roll them along the edge of the back of a fork to put little ridges in them. I rolled mine along the back of a fork. I ended up with some rounded looking gnocchi and also some rectangular gnocchi. They all worked. I added my gnocchi to my soup recipe (see below), but if you do want to cook them, you add them to boiling water. They fall to the bottom. Once they rise to the top of the boiling water, you get a slotted spoon and removed them after 14 seconds. Like I say, I was adding mine to boiling chicken broth with all my soup ingredients in there, so they cooked at that time.

Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups cream (I did use cream, said you can also use evaporated milk)

1/2 cup celery, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup carrots, finely shredded

1/2 cup onion, finely diced

1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon parsley

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese--optional

1 pound potato gnocchi--can buy in the gourmet section of many supermarkets or use recipe listed above if you like.

Saute the onion, celery, garlic, spinach, carrots in the olive oil til the onion is nearly translucent. Add the chicken, chicken broth, and spices. Bring to a boil. Slowly add the gnocchi into the boiling broth. turn the heat down and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

(If you want a thicker soup, add 1 tablespoon corn starch to the cream before you add it into the broth.) Add the cream. Slowly allow the mixture to come to a boil and then turn it off.

I served my soup with Rhodes Rolls. W loved it, and Steph said it did not taste like Olive Garden's, but it was good. I think it was close.