Chicken (or Turkey) Gnocchi Soup

I had been wanting to make home made Gnocchi for the longest time! Especially after I found this recipe, I LOVE the Chicken Gnocchi soup that you get at Olive Garden and this tastes quite a bit like that.  I had a recipe that I got off the food network for homemade Gnocchi that had you rice the potatoes, but I found they disintegrated when I cooked them. This one was awesome! I made mine with left over mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving. Or you could use potato buds and make mashed potatoes first (that's what this recipe originally called for) but I'm posting the recipe for how I made it. For those of you that don't know what Gnocchi is, it's a small potato dumpling used in a lot of Italian recipes. I also used my leftover turkey in the soup, but you could easily buy a roasted chicken from your local deli and chop it up or use left over grilled chicken. This is a creamy soup that was a good way to use up my Thanksgiving leftovers. Enjoy!

Chicken (or Turkey) Gnocchi Soup
For the Gnocchi:
2 cups (approx) leftover mashed potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
1/4  scant teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

For the Soup:
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium carrot, sliced thin
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 of a large onion, diced
1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-1/2 cups half-and half
3 cups cooked chicken (or turkey) chopped
2 cups fresh spinach

Grated Parmesan cheese for Garnishing

Make the gnocchi by mixing your mashed potatoes with the egg yolk, salt and nutmeg. Stir until the egg yolk is well incorporated into the mashed potatoes.
Next, stir in the 2/3 cups flour and knead with your hands for about a minute. (This shouldn't be real sticky, it should feel almost like a play dough).

Next, take about a teaspoon of the dough and roll into a ball....

then on a floured piece of wax paper, roll with your finger tip into a slight oblong shape. When all of your gnocchi is made you can start your soup. Heat the 2 Tablespoons oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery and garlic; saute for 3 to 5 minutes. While your veggies are cooking, whisk the cornstarch into the chicken broth. Add the broth mixture to the vegetables along with the water. Bring this to a boil, then add your gnocchi. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the half -n half and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the soup begins to thicken. Add the chicken (or turkey) and spinach, simmer for another 10 minutes or until the soup has thickened and the spinach is tender. Serve in individual bowls and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese. YUM!