Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

I got the bones of this recipe from a lady who tried to copycat Olive Garden's chicken gnocchi soup. I tweaked it, but even before tweaking this recipe was WAY better than Olive Garden (of which I'm no fan, so take that as you like).

Ingredients

* 2/3 c. olive oil

* 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

* 4 chicken breasts, diced into bite-size pieces

* 2/3 c. flour

* 1/2 c. shredded carrots

* 2 stalks celery, finely chopped

* 1 c. fresh spinach, finely sliced

* 5 c. milk (I used skim milk)

* 3 c. heavy cream (I used half and half to make it healthier)

* 3 chicken boullion cubes (I used 3 tsp. chicken soup base)

* sea salt and pepper to taste (I used a white/black pepper combo)

* 1 full batch of the homemade gnocchi (about 180 pieces)

Directions

1. Heat your olive oil into a large soup pot.

2. Cook chicken through.

3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.

4. Stir in flour and allow to cook into the chicken (3-5 minutes), stirring frequently

5. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the gnocchi.

6. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

7. Bring to a gentle boil, continuing to stir frequently (you don't want that milk and cream to scorch).

8. Add your gnocchis. Lower the heat and simmer the gnocchis about 10 minutes.

This soup was sooooo good!!! At least as good as Olive Garden's. Ironically, this is the only thing I even like to eat at that place...Anyway, it's a new family favorite.