Cooking With The Wheats: My Momma's Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup is so Good (and really fatty, just FYI, which is Probably why its a family favorite!) My Momma has to make a double batch of this when she makes it and it still almost isn't enough! I finally watched her not long ago and she gave me the recipe as well- This soup is so yummy that she made it one night and sent a picture message of it to my husband- he then went and got her left overs- the next day he came in with the ingredients I was missing for it- and I made it that night for him, then we had enough left overs to eat it again so two days later we had it for lunch! Everyone ends up eating two bowl fulls and stuffed!! (this recipe serves 12 or more depending on your bowl size! I don't EVER want to know about the calories! EVER- its to good to know!)

What is Gnocchi? It is a Potato Dumpling- You can buy it about anywhere, I think mom gets it from World Market, but Dustin found ours at Costco, 3 packs for around $5.00!!

Okay- This is a Semi- Long recipe but so worth it! (oh and when I made it this particular time, I just had one package of gnocchi)

1/3 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of unsalted butter
4 cloves of garlic (minced- or use the already minced garlic)
1 small to medium yellow onion
3-4 stalks of celery (we use the leafy part as well)
8 ounces of baby carrot's
2 lbs of chopped chicken breast (the size you would want in soup)
1 box of chicken broth or stock (stock would add more flavor- and I actually only had vegetable broth so that's what I used)
2 packs of gnocchi
1 frozen pack of spinach or a cup of fresh spinach chopped
(the herbs are all optional - I didn't have them, I will in the spring summer that will be fresh from the Garden- so I used dried basil and Pampered Chefs Italian herbs seasoning)
3-4 bay leaves
1-2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1-2 teaspoons of dried basil
1 teaspoon of dried parsley
Pepper and Salt to taste
2/3 cup of flour ( I used whole wheat- just because we had ran out of regular and it didn't taste any different!)
4 cups of Milk- You can use just Milk or half n half or a mixture of both- it really depends on your preference and if you want to cut back on the calories then do milk- I did just half n half- My Momma just eyeballs the liquid and adds more if it seems to thick- it seemed fine to me :)

Okay- So put your olive oil and butter in a large pot (4-6 quart pot) and let melt at medium/high heat
~chop up the onion, celery, and carrots (I used the Pampered Food Chopper to do this quickly)
~add your veggies to the melted butter and oil
~add the herbs and pepper and a little salt
~Mince the Garlic into the pot (I use the Pampered Chef garlic Press)
~Stir all that together and let it cook for about 6 minutes (I usually cut up my chicken at this point with the Pampered Chef Kitchen Shears)
-Now add the Chicken (cook it until it turns completely white!)
~ Pour in the flour and mix it up (have your broth open and ready)
~Slowly start pouring the Stock in to the Pot and stir while doing so- try to keep it from being lumpy!
~Next I added the 4 cups of half n half
~Now Add Your Spinach!! YUMMY :) Really it is!
~Bring it to a Boil and Add the gnocchi-
~Bring it down to a Simmer- Cover- and let cook for 20 minutes- stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot! :)
ENJOY! PS- My Momma Says there is no wrong way to make this so don't freak out if you mess up a step or add something different! :)

Pictures Below!

Getting It all Out and Ready!

Melting the butter in with the oil (technically you could up the oil amnt and leave out the butter if needed)

I cut the veggies with a forged paring knife (one of my favorites not my most favorite but close!)

Look How awesome the Food Chopper Did! SO EASY

I love these cutting mats- they're flexible and all the ingredients go right into the pot!

stir it up!

the only herbs I have right now! (I should have more- I have just been slacking!)

Chicken Cut with Kitchen Shears- this is just super fast and easy and I can throw those shears in the dishwasher!

make sure the chicken is white (to know its cooked!)

This Mammoth spinach is from our Garden! (In January!!)

Salad Choppers! (Another favorite! These are super sharp and they are what use to cut/shred hot chicken! no burnt finger here!)

Next Ingredients!

I've added the Flour Now I am slowly adding the stock and stirring to keep it from lumping!

This is Garlic Cloves in the Garlic Press- that thing smashes the fresh garlic through making sure you get all the awesome flavor! (I forgot to add the garlic earlier oops!)

I have now also poured the Milk into the Pot!

Here is what it looks like when it comes thru and there is a little tool that scrapes it off and gets the "shell" out- so you never have the garlic on your hands!!!

Now for the gnocchi!

This Pot I am using is the 8 qt covered Stockpot- its a part of Pampered Chefs 7 piece executive set! (YOU can earn this cookware 1/2 off by hosting a party or in February 2013 if you host a party you could earn it at 60% off!! It cleans up easy, cooks so evenly and is my favorite thing ever from the company!)

My Oldest Child request Corn Bread :) and I use the Mini Baker (8 inch stoneware) and I use the kitchen spritzer to spray vegetable oil in it (tip- aerosol oil spray can leave a yucky sticky residue on your bake ware/cook ware! so this is wonderful!)