Chicken and Dumplings, Gnocchi Style....

The latter part of this week my husband was really, really sick with strep throat. On the second day of his sickness I decided to make him some magical healing chicken soup. Of course, it didn't magically heal him. In fact, he couldn't even eat anything but the broth until two days later. Oh well, I did enjoy a big bowl of it in between schooling Miles and taking temperatures/medicating my husband. Let me tell you it was awesome. When he finally did have a bowl with all the goodies he loved it too. Although he said the chicken was to hard to swallow. 

So start out by prepping all of your veggies. This means washing, peeling and dicing. I used yellow bells and red onions because that was what I had but I am sure you can use any kind of onion or bell pepper (I don't particularly like green, unless I am making Cajun food). Start warming up your oil in your favorite soup pot. I love my enamel coated cast iron pot, my mother-in-law gave me as a gift one year, it heats evenly and it stays hot.

Once the oil is hot, first add the onions and let them cook down a bit before you add all the other veggies. Now cook those down until the get nice and tender and slightly browned.

When the veggies reach this point add some dry white wine to get all those lovely browned bits (fond) off the bottom of the pot. Let the wine reduce a bit, then add your broth. I had 3.5 cups of turkey stock from a turkey I made for a friend and then I added 4.5 cups of chicken stock, not homemade this time. Also add the thyme, and bay leaves. Bring this to a boil and add you chicken. I had leftover chicken that I removed from the bones and chopped up. You could use raw or precooked chicken it is really up to you. It will come out good either way. Let this boil for at least 30 minutes. Then add your gnocchi, you can make it from scratch if you like, it isn't too difficult. However, I found a premade one recently that I like. I bought it at Aldi, so if you have that grocery store around give it a try.

After you add the Gnocchi let it cook for at least 10 minutes over medium heat, you want it at a light simmer so the gnocchi doesn't fall apart. At this point you have a decision to make. If you like it thin like a soup then stop here, remove the thyme sticks, bay leaves, add the thinly sliced spinach and serve. If you like it thick like traditional chicken and dumplings then cook it longer. The starch in the gnocchi will start to thicken the soup. Just stir it every so often so your gnocchi doesn't stick to the bottom. Remove the thyme sticks and bay leaves and add the sliced spinach right before serving.

Serve and enjoy! This is my delicious bowl of soup. I think this soup would be great with a thick crusty slice of garlic bread. Yum! Like I said the sick boy couldn't eat anything but the broth and that would have been a boring picture. ;-)

Chicken and Dumplings, Gnocchi Style

3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 large onion, small dice
1 yellow bell pepper, small dice
3 stalk celery, small dice
3 carrots, small dice
1/2 c white wine
8 c chicken broth
4 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 chicken breast, diced
1 pkg gnocchi
2.5 oz or 3 cups raw spinach, thinly sliced

Add olive oil to a large soup pot and heat over medium heat. When hot add onions and saute until translucent about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, carrots and celery to pot, season lightly season with salt and pepper, then saute an additional 10 minutes until lightly browned. Add wine and lightly scrape up any brown bits off of bottom of pot. Let reduce slightly then add broth, thyme and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Add chicken, then cook for about 30 minutes on medium-low at a light simmer. Add gnocchi and cook an additional 10 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Add sliced spinach right before serving. The longer the soup cooks with the gnocchi the thicker it will get, so if it's not to your desired consistency cook it a bit longer.