Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup Copy Cat Recipe

My hubby LOVES the Chicken and Gnocchi soup from Olive Garden .He tells me that he had never had gnocchi until he met me- oh, the food horizons I have opened him up to! :-) Because of my daughter's allergies to eggs, nuts and soy and because of my personal allergies to BOP and other things, I felt it was worth exploring trying a copy-cat recipe to recreate the creamy, steamy goodness at home.

SOO..... here goes...!

Adapted from: http://www.food.com/recipe/olive-garden-style-chicken-and-gnocchi-soup-348802

Ingredients:

3 -4 chicken breasts , cooked and diced
4 cups chicken stock (I used water)
2 cups half-and-half (I used fat free half and half)
1 stalk celery , diced (I used 2 stalks)
1 garlic clove , chopped
½ carrot , shredded (I used a whole carrot and cut into matchsticks)
½ onion , diced (I used a whole)
1 cup fresh spinach , chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper
16 ounces potato gnocchi (pre-made)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional) (I only had flour on hand so I used 2 Tblsp.flour)

Directions:

-Saute the onion, celery, garlic, carrot in oil over medium heat until onion is translucent.
-Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. ( Heat to boiling and add cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp water at this point if you want a thicker soup)
-Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.
-Ladle into bowls and serve!

Verdict:

Hubby gives the soup two slurpy spoons up! He says that the Olive Garden one is a bit saltier and a tad bit thicker in consistency. So, next time, add more salt and/or use homemade chicken stock (that I know is soy-free). Also, double the roux to add thickness. Personally, I liked the fact that I could add *some* nutritional boost to this usually-diet-disaster by bumping up the veggies. Lil' Miss ate a whole bowl by herself so I'd say that it was win-win all around! Yummy!