Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup (Original Post 5/30/11)

Again, this is not my recipe, it is from the book To Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur. I love this soup at Olive Garden and I was stalking the Olive Garden website hoping that they would post their recipe there and to my knowledge they have not yet. So here is a recipe that is supposed to be as good as the real thing!!

Ingredients:

Gnocchi:

1 cup potato buds

3/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 scant tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup boiling water

1 egg yolk

2/3 cup all- purpose flour

Directions for Gnocchi:

Mix potato buds with the salt and nutmeg. Stir in the boiling water and continue mixing until no dry flakes remain. Stir in egg yolk until the mashed potato mixture has an even pale yellow color throughout. Stir in flour and knead for about a minute with your hands. Use a half teaspoon to measure out small portions of the dough. Using floured hands, roll the small dough portion around between the palms of your hands, making a ball, then press each ball down onto floured wax paper, making a small disk, When all the gnocchi is made, begin the rest of the soup.

Ingredients:

Soup:

2 TBS. vegetable oil

1/2 cup of shredded carrot

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 TBS. cornstarch

4 cups chicken broth

4 cups of water

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 roasted chicken with meat removed and chopped ( about 1 pound of meat)

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

Directions:

Heat oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, celery, and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Whisk cornstarch into the chicken broth and add to the vegetables along with the water. When the mixture begins to boil, add the gnocchi. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the half and half and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until soup begins to thicken. Add the chicken and spinach and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the soup has thickened and the spinach is tender.

Now, if you want to make this recipe quickly I suggest using frozen gnocchi and a rotisserie chicken from your favorite store. Again I have not made this yet, so if anyone tries it out, let me know!!