Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Have you ever had the chicken gnocchi soup from Olive Garden? It's good. Mine is better. I think that it's the Italian version of chicken 'n dumplings.

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken, remove

meat and shred into strips
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 quart half and half
32 ounce chicken broth
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup carrots, finely shredded
1 cup onion, finely diced
1 cup fresh spinach
1 tablespoon extra virgin oil

1 pack of potato gnocchi (Italian potato dumplings)

1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon parsley

1/2 teaspoon celery salt

1 tsp basil

Crushed red pepper to taste

Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Directions: Sauté the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil, over medium heat. When the onion becomes translucent, add the flour to make a roux. Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding chicken broth. Stir and let cook until well incorporated. Add the gnocchi and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes. Then add the half and half and remaining ingredients and simmer until ready to serve. Be careful not to boil again; gnocchi will get mushy.

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Taco Soup

I finally measured the ingredients when I was making this last night. Ross loves it. It's fabulous for days like we are having...snowy, 0* windchill. Bring on the warm soup!

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn
1 pack taco seasoning
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp baking soda
salt to taste


-Brown beef in large soup pot. Drain out all grease.
-Saute onion and garlic in olive oil and add beef back to pot.
-Add all ingredients except for beans and corn.
-When you add the baking soda, it will foam all up. This helps to cut the acidity from the tomatoes.
-Simmer for at least one hour, adding beans and corn about 20 minutes before you are ready to serve.
-Serve topped with shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ross has been obsessed with Broccoli Cheese Soup lately. He orders it everywhere! I love soup that comes in bread bowls, so tonight for dinner, I combined the two. To create a bread bowl, simply carve the center out of a big roll. Be sure to leave enough bread around all sides to support the soup. Fill right before serving.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, cut into medium dice
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste
8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions
1.Melt butter over medium heat in a large soup pot. Cook onion in butter until softened. Add garlic and pepper; cook for 1 minute then stir in broccoli, and stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
2.Meanwhile whisk flour into milk until dissolved. Stir into soup stirring frequently until thickened. Add nutmeg and black pepper. Stir. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese until melted and heated through.
3.Season with salt to taste.

Corn Chowder

There is just something so comforting about hot soup on a cold day. Today I gave corn chowder a try. It turned out to be quite delish!

Ingredients
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 chopped onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup seasoning mix frozen veggies (it includes celery, bell peppers, onion and parsley)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups corn
chicken broth
2 chicken buillon cubes
1 tsp Tony Chachere seasoning
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
Pepper to taste
1 tsp Parsley
3 bay leaves
1 tsp Basil
1 cup milk
Shredded cheese for topping

Melt butter in large soup pot. Add onion and seasoning mix. Cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sautee for 2-3 minutes. Put corn and potatoes in pan and add just enough chicken broth to barely cover corn and potatoes. Season with Tony's, pepper, parsley, Old Bay, basil, buillon cubes and bay leaves. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 15-20 minutes. REMOVE BAY LEAVES. Remove 2 cups of soup and cool. Place cooled soup in food processor and puree. Add pureed soup back into pot and simmer. Turn off heat and stir in milk. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.