Creamy Chicken And Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)

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Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)

1 1/4 cups finely chopped yellow onion
1 cup small diced carrot
1 cup small diced celery
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbsp)
2 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh
1/2 tsp dried thyme or 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded evenly to nearly ½-inch thickness, or 2 1/2 cups cooked shredded rotisserie chicken
1 (16 oz) pkg potato gnocchi or homemade gnocchi (I like to use mini)
5 Tbsp butter
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups milk, then more to thin as needed
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 cups (2 oz) packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Shredded Romano or parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté 6 minutes, add garlic sauté 1- 2 minutes longer.
Pour in broth, add rosemary, thyme, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add in chicken breasts (if using rotisserie chicken wait to add at the end) and bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through (it should register 165 in center), about 8 - 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, while chicken is cooking, melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, cook and stir constantly 1 minute.
While whisking vigorously pour in milk then continue to whisk vigorously to smooth any lumps. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
While whisking constantly, cook until mixture thickens and lightly boils. Stir in cream, remove from heat.
Once chicken in soup has cooked through remove chicken from soup and allow chicken to rest 5 minutes then dice or shred into pieces. If veggies aren’t nearly soft let that soup simmer a few minutes longer before adding gnocchi.
Add gnocchi to broth mixture, cover and simmer for recommend time directed on package, about 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat.
Stir milk mixture into broth mixture, then add in cooked chicken (shredded rotisserie or cooked chicken breasts) and spinach. Cook until spinach wilts, about 1 minute.
Serve warm with Romano cheese if desired.

Use fresh spinach for best results, skip the frozen kind here. It will turn out mushy.
Pasta or cooked rice would also be delicious in this soup in place of gnocchi.
Cooked Italian sausage would be a good substitute for the chicken.
Makes about 9 cups.