"Olive Garden Has Nothing On Me"

I declare this week on the blog- Michelle Week! She is way more interesting than me this week (probably every week) so I will share things going on with her. She really needs to start a blog, but she doesn't think she has anything to post on. As you can see, that's not true. Last night she called me and said "Olive Garden Has Nothing On Me!" She has been wanting to make Chicken and Gnocchi Soup that Olive Garden has for a little while now and she got a great recipe from our friend Jen from Ehow.com.

 Ingredients-
1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cream (she used half and half)
 ½ cup celery, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup carrots, finely shredded
½ cup onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon parsley
Freshly grated parmesan cheese - optional
1 pound potato gnocchi - can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets or find a recipe for homemade in the resource section

Directions-
1. Sauté the onion, celery, garlic, spinach, carrots in the olive oil till the onion is nearly translucent.

2. Add the chicken, chicken broth, and spices. Bring to a boil.

3. Slowly add the gnocchi into the boiling broth.

 

4. Turn down the heat 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.

5. Serve in heated bowls. You may wish to serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese on the top.

Doesn't it look so great! She did such a good job! She rated it an A+++. Her recommendation if you are short on time is just to have your vegetables already cut up and ready to go the day before so you can just plop everything in. I can't wait to try this, I think I'll make this next week.