Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden)

Recipe from CopyKat.com

4 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Cup onions, diced

2 Cloves garlic, minced

1/2 Cup celery (2 stalks), sliced

4 Tbsp flour

1 Quart half and half

1 14-oz Can chicken broth

1 Cup carrots (2 carrots), shredded

1/2 tsp Thyme

1/2 tsp parsley

1 Cup shredded cooked chicken

1 lb gnocchi cooked (in the pasta aisle)

1 Cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

Fresh ground Parmesan cheese (optional)

Saute onions, garlic, and celery with butter and oil over medium heat until softened and translucent. Add flour and let thicken for 1 or more minutes. Add half and half 1/4 at a time. Add chicken broth, carrots, thyme, parsley, and chicken. Combine. Then add gnocchi. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add spinach just before serving. Top with Parmesan.

Soup

Last night I made a soup that was supposed to be close to Cafe Zupa's Wisconsin Cauliflower soup (my all-time favorite!). The blogger that posted it said it wasn't spot-on, but that it was close and she enjoyed it. Me, I hated it. So much that I threw away the rest. I never do that! But I did last night. And this is why I am not sharing the recipe. You're welcome.

Olive Garden Minestrone

A while back Betsy posted a recipe for faux Zuppa Tuscana and in keeping with the Olive Garden Soup idea, here's the recipe for faux Olive Garden Minestrone. This is one of my favorite items on the Olive Garden menu, and when I found this recipe online I just had to try it out and it has taken the place of my favorite soup recipe ever.

3 tablespoons live oil
1 cup minced white onion (about one small onion)
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup froze cut Italian green beans
1/4 cup minced celery
4 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups vegetable broth (I recommended Swansons ... and don't substitute chicken broth!)
2 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained
2 (15 ounce) cans whie beans or great northern beans, drained
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup carrot, julienned or shredded
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup small shell pasta

1. Heat three tablespoons of live oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
2. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions being to turn translucent.
3. Add vegetable broth to pot plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water and spices.
4. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or untile desired consistency.

Optional:
In step #3, add a splash of red wine. If you're grocery shopping in Utah, you won't be able to find red wine in the grocery store, but Harmons does carry cooking wines.

Also, this makes A LOT of soup, so feel free to half the recipe.

Tortellini, Bean and Pesto Soup

With shorter nights and colder days, it's becoming abundantly clear that fall is in full swing. One glance at the mountains ablaze with color makes me appreciate my living in Utah where I can enjoy all four seasons. My favorite thing about fall is definitely soup. Soup just seems to be such a fall food, don't you agree? At the first sign of fall, I made my all-time favorite soup and thought it would be very kind of me to share it with you.

2 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, cut into julienne strips

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 medium stalk celery, sliced (1/2 cup)

6 cups water

2 teaspoons vegetable or chicken bouillon granules

1 can (15 to 16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 package (10 ounces) dried cheese filled tortellini

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Pesto

Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in soup pot over medium-low heat. Cook garlic, carrot, onion and celery in butter 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in watter and bouillon granules. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Stir in beans and tortellini. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until tortellini are tender. Stir in parsley and pepper. Top each serving with pesto and cheese.

Faux Zuppa Tuscana

For my fellow Olive Garden fans:

This is one of my favorite dishes ever. It's fairly easy - just a lot of chopping.

1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 lb. ground Italian sausage, mild
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper, plus more to taste
2 1/2 cup water
2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans chicken broth
3 large russet potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced 1/4" thick
1 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. freshly group pepper
1/2 bunch kale, stems removed, chopped
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

Saute sausage in oil. Remove sausage to plate and set aside. Add onion, saute until translucent. Add garlic and crushed red pepper, cook 1 minute. In a large pot, combine water and broth; add onion mixture. Add potatoes, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, simmer about 10 minutes. Add kale and sausage, simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in cream. Heat to simmer over medium heat, cook 2 minutes.